[WATCH] Busuttil accuses PL of deceptive phonecalls: 'They are playing dirty'

PN leader Simon Busuttil has warned people to beware of deceptive phonecalls from the Labour Party and accused Joseph Muscat of playing dirty in a desperate attempt to regain power.

Addressing a political activity in Gzira, he said that an elderly woman called up Dar Centrali in tears today to say that she had received a phonecall from somebody warning that a PN government will cut off her pension.

“They are calling up elderly people, abusing of their goodness and vulnerability, to scare them that I will cut off their pensions,” he said. “To these elderly people, I ensure that I will actually increase your pensions to allow you to live decent lives.

“Don’t let Joseph Muscat abuse you. These people don’t even have a drop of decency left, they have no idea of fair play, and they don’t know how to play by the rules of the game.”

Busuttil also warned that ‘goodies’ have recently been handed out to employees at the Education Department – with part-time contracts converted to full-time ones and indefinite contracts converted to permanent ones.

“They are trying to buy people through the most desperate means possible, but I promise these workers that a PN government will guarantee that they will keep everything that is theirs by right.”

In his speech, Busuttil reiterated his warning that a victory for Labour on 3 June could spell the death of the financial services industry in Malta. Indeed, he said that he found out today that a particular businessman is putting on hold a planned €40 million investment in Malta on hold pending the result of the election.

“If Labour wins, then this investor will choose to go to Luxembourg or Cyprus instead of Malta. This is the gravity of the situation we are in.”

He mocked Muscat’s recent claim in a PL mass meeting that he chose not to fire minister Konrad Mizzi and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri because “the country needed them”.

“He left everything important and controversial in their hands – from the privatisation of three hospitals, to the sale of Enemalta, to the sale of passport schemes,” he said. “They had their fingers in every pie. Muscat didn’t remove them because he couldn’t remove them, because he is also involved.”

‘Sant’ Antnin fire result of government incomeptence’

Busuttil also pinned the blame on today’s fire at the Sant’ Antnin waste treatment facility on the Labour government’s “incompetence”.

“The government left Sant’ Antnin in a diplaidated state. These people were so focused on getting rich off corruption that they left the place abandoned. They should be ashamed of themselves. These sort of things never occurred under a serious government.”

Marlene Farrugia accuses Labour of misogyny

The political activity was also addressed by the PN’s candidates on the tenth district, including Partit Demokratiku leader Marlene Farrugia.

In her speech, she accused the ‘Panama Gang’ of embarking on a misogynistic campaign against her because she is a female leader of a political leader.

“This battle is being fought on many fronts, but us women must realize that the PanamaGang has launched a campaign against me simply because I am a woman in a leadership position,” she said.

Farrugia received a roar of applause as she addressed the crowds of the tenth district, a PN stronghold, which she recently announced she will run on for the first time.

She said that she made her decision because the district requires a “shield” to defend it against the rampant development under the Labour government.

“Our past, our heritage and our memories have been sold and destroyed before our very eyes,” she said. “Development should be part of a national and well-studied plan that respects residents, but the government has abandoned the residents and allowed investors to design their own roadmaps. This election is a do-or-die situation for the tenth district, and if you want your children to maintain a sense of identity, then a Forza Nazzjonali must be vote dinto government.”