[WATCH] Muscat: ‘Books can be written about the corruption of Nationalist governments’

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has insisted that while the current administration had made several mistakes, “books” could be written about the corruption of past Nationalist governments.

Muscat was speaking at a political activity in Siggiewi where he reacted to comments by PN Candidate Salvu Mallia, who said that both parties were corrupt.

He said that while the Labour Party had presented a number of proposals for the coming legislature, the PN was only capable of talking about corruption.

He stressed that all the Labour Party’s proposals were realistic and costed, and had only been put forward because they made sense, and were achievable.

Moreover, he said that the Labour Party had the credibility and could be trusted with implementing proposals, both big and small.

Many, said Muscat, had expressed their satisfaction at the Labour Party’s pledge to plant a tree for every child that was born, and to start discussions for children to go to school in their track suit

“They are small things but they make a difference to people’s lives,” he said.

Muscat questioned why the PN had waited so long to publish a manifesto and asked whether this was because there was no agreement on their proposals.

He said one of the proposals was to give 16-year olds a vote in local council elections, something he said had already been done.  

“Youths voted in local council elections in 2015,” he said. “We introduced it two years ago. The next step is for them to vote in the European parliament elections and the general election after that.”

A second PN proposal that caught Muscat’s eye was the pledge to reduce petrol by 5c. He questioned how long this would last, adding that the current administration had kept prices stable.

“According to Busuttil’s website dieselandpetrol.com, Joseph Muscat is robbing the people of 50c per litre,” he said. “So why isn’t he going to reduce it by 50c. With the same reasoning, Simon Busuttil is going to rob you of 45c”

He said the truth was the PN had no idea about how to run a country, and insisted that the Labour Party’s manifesto is superior to the one which “made such a difference” to people’s lives four years ago.

Muscat said that the choice facing the country was a “serious” one where the country would have to choose between the politics of division, that was being proposed by PN leader Simon Busuttil.

He said Busuttil had a sense of superiority which was fake, and ultimately exposed the fact that he was inferior.

He insisted that his government was one of the first to have enacted all of its electoral proposals and that the government’s achievements far outweighed the negative points.

The Prime Minister said his government was a stable one that had put the country before itself, but was above all one that always let people know where they stood with it.

“The promise we give to hunters, you can be guaranteed we will keep,” he said, while accusing PN leader Simon Busuttil and PD leader Marlene Farrugia of not being able to agree among themselves.

Muscat said once again that the only thing that united the coalition was a hatred of himself, and that if it were to win, the country would have to deal with an instable government

“It won’t be unstable because of something which might have happened, but one which was born unstable,” said Muscat, adding that a coalition win would see the Prime Minister of the country constantly having to negotiate with Marlene Farrugia to get things done.

He insisted that he had spoken to several “genuine” Nationalists who still could not believe that their party had fallen to the level that it had put itself at the mercy of a one-man party.

“This is the real threat to jobs, this is what will threaten investment,” said Muscat, adding that a govern that is unable to take decisions would cripple the country’s economy.

Muscat urged those present to vote on the 3 June and warned that those choosing not to vote, would be contributing to a government run by Simon Busuttil.

Referring to those who were still unsure because of the Panama Papers revelations, Muscat insisted that they needed to keep in mind that the same mistakes would not be made this time round.

Moreover, he insisted that the Opposition was still the same party that had been voted out of government and which had presided over a stagnated economy and soaring unemployment.

According to Muscat people needed to ask themselves whether their family was better off today than it was four years ago, whether the country was better off, and which party was more likely to see their family progress in life. He said he was convinced that people could easily see that this was in fact the Labour Party.