PN’s greatest threat is voters taking its achievements for granted – Busuttil

Nationalist Party deputy leader Simon Busuttil has affirmed that the biggest stumbling block that the Nationalist Party is currently facing is "people taking for granted what we have achieved."

Busuttil was speaking on debate programme Bondi+ on Tuesday evening, during which he answered questions by presenter Lou Bondi regarding the Nationalist Party's electoral programme, and the ongoing campaign.

Busuttil said that currently, "people can go to work every day, and send their children to be educated well for free, and seek out quality medical advice completely free of charge."

He described this as a state of "normalcy" which people are complacently taking for granted.

"This is the biggest threat that the PN is facing: people taking for granted what we have already achieved. As if they are certain that it will stay that way come what may after 9 March."

He insisted that only with the Nationalist Party in government could the people have a "guarantee" that this will be so.

"With the Labour party in government, you don't have the guarantee that you will be able to keep what you take for granted today," Busuttil warned.

Reacting to Lou Bondi's interjection that this amounted to scaremongering tactics, Busuttil candidly agreed.

"I am not scaring people. I am scared myself. I am scared of the Labour Party. Because there are people from its past that they want to put them in charge of our future," Busuttil said.

He argued that the Labour Party is speaking about changing the country's direction. "Imagine if you have to change the country's direction. We certain have much to fear."

He said that the Labour Party is not to be trusted. "When you boil it down, the Labour Party either does not have proposals, or else insists it will change the country's direction, or else it promises to put people from their past in charge of the country's future."

Busuttil delivered the warning during a deabte programme interspersed with several features which, against a catchy commercial rock soundtrack, summarised several of the electoral proposals sector by sector, as outlined in the PN electoral programme unveiled last week.

In between each feature, Bondi posed a series of questions to Busuttil regarding the sector the preceding feature dealt with.

Busuttil defended the PN's 20,000 new job claim, dismissing the PL's criticism of the figure by saying "You know their track record on job creation. Which party do you trust most with your jobs?"

He reiterated the party pledge that not only the PN created 20,000 new jobs over the past five years, but will create 25,000 more in the coming legislation.

Busuttil added that the government will ensure that jobs will be created in the coming five years is through incentivising the private sector.

Busuttil insisted that the PN's electoral proposals are aimed at achieving especially that, pointing to Gozo-related proposals whereby the establishment of new businesses are incentivised.

Busuttil however dodged questions regarding by how much Malta's EU funding allocation will decrease for the 2014-2020 period, insisting simply that "we must focus on negotiating a good package" and that the ongoing negotiations are "delicate".

He said that the results will be a testament to "how well the Nationalist Party can negotiate."

Pressed by Bondi on what guarantees the PN can deliver regarding EU funding for the upcoming period, Busuttil was evasive.

"I am not giving any guarantees. What I am guaranteeing is the commitment of the prime Minister who is personally involved.  The moment the negotiations are closed, we will be ale to go before the people and say what we've managed to negotiate."

Asked by Bondi whether why it should not be the PN and not Joseph Muscat's Labour Party who could negotiate Malta's upcoming EU funding package, Busuttil referred to both Muscat and Labour's opposition to Malta's EU membership.

"Who do you trust to negotiate on your behalf, us, who got us into the EU, or Muscat, who fought against EU membership?"

Busuttil used this point to segue into an attack against Labour's past, insisting that "its past is still its present" given that the are several individuals in labour's ranks which once served as ministers in past Labour administrations.

"They want to make us swallow their past as our future," he said.

Busuttil also fended off criticism regarding ongoing issues in the health sector, such as overcrowding in Mater Dei, endless waiting lists, and perpetually out-of-stock medicines.

Busuttil admitted that the system is not perfect but insisted that "it is one of the best tint he world. Nobody can deny our health care system's quality, or that it is free despite this quality."

"Biggest lie by the PL in the last election was that we would introduce health service fees. We did not."

Busuttil reiterated the PN's commitment to establishing Malta as a "centre" for diabetes care in Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as the proposal to part-fund privately-bought medicines which would be out-of stock.

Asked whether by Bondi whether the Nationalist government would be shouldering political responsibility for the ongoing Enemalta oil-purchasing kickbacks scandal - at the heart of which is former Enemalta consultant Frank Sammut - Busuttil was evasive.

"On March 9, the people will be act as the biggest judges on political responsibility," Busuttil would only say, suggesting that political responsibility for the ongoing scandal will hinge on the election outcome.

He again hit out at Muscat, this time for speaking publicly about the corruption scandal, insisting that the PN's credentials are better than that.

"When it comes to corruption, we don't speak about it in political meetings, but we go to the Police Commissioner," Busuttil insisted, saying that the PN has always respected and followed the proper investigative channels.

Busuttil also accused Muscat of trying to use the Enemalta oil-purchasing kickbacks scandal to "muddy" the campaign by raising an issue "where the person involved has been removed from his position ten years ago."

"It is very bad that the Leader of the Opposition is trying to dirty the campaign," Busuttil said. "I appeal to him to keep it clean," he said.

Pressed for an answer regarding political responsibility for the Enemalta scandal, as part of which Minister Austin Gatt was questioned at the Police HQ earlier that day, Busuttil insisted simply that "The biggest political responsibility will be decided by the people on 9 March."