Labour will not look at colour of your face - Muscat

Labour Leader Joseph Muscat stole an arrow out of the Nationalist Party's bow by capitalising on the PN's contentious billboard unveiled earlier that day which depicted both him and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi with their faces painted red and blue respectively.

Speaking at the customary evening tent event in Zurrieq on Tuesday, Muscat said that when PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil uttered the fateful remark that PL candidate Deborah Schembri has 'a Nationalist face', "there might have been some who thought that it might have been simply a slip of the tongue."

However, Muscat said that the Nationalist Party's billboard "which blossomed along our roads at the crack of dawn" is proof positive that the PN is still clinging to "the strategy of not finding what unites us, but is trying to divide and conquer."

"They are saying that we are a country of two tribes. One red, and one blue. A country divided. A country where one either belongs with one side, or the other. A country where the first thing one sees is that person's colour. Where half the people are with the red side and half with the blue."

Muscat slammed this message as "anachronistic", insisting that it is out of touch with the sort of politics that the people truly want.

"I call on all those who want a change in politics to say 'no' to that which seeks to divides us into red and blue, but to take up a colour of a united people and a united country," Muscat said.

Saying that this billboard represents "a clear example of the choice that people have before them for 9 March," Muscat reiterated Labour's message that "if elected, a new Labour government will not look at the colour of your face, but will appreciate you for what you are, and will give unto you that which you deserve."

The labour leader particularly appealed to the undecided portion of the electorate, which are likely to be the ones least impressed with the tribalistic message behind the Nationalist Party's latest billboard.

"Is that the Malta you want to live in, where the people remain divided into two tribes? Or do we want to live in one country with one united people, and leave our children the best inheritance we can: a united country?"

"Do you want your children to be judged on what they can do, or on the colour that someone tries to paint on their face," the Labour leader asked, in an echo of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' Speech.

He also drove home the message with disgruntled PN supporters that "the PN of today is no longer the same party that you once believe in. Today, the right is on the side of this movement."

Muscat also touched upon the ongoing Enemalta scandal, which today saw prominent business leaders Tancred Tabone and Frank Sammut being arraigned in court over an array of charges which could result in hefty prison sentences.

In this regard, Muscat adopted the role of the cautious and responsible statesman. "We leave it up to the police and the judiciary to do their work. Irrespective of how we are on the brink of an election, we will not fall into trap of interfering with their work."

"At the same time," Muscat added, "one needs to consider certain important points."

Here, Muscat referred to a statement issued just hours earlier by the Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, where Gonzi specifically pointed out that when he became Prime Minister in 2004, former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone was already occupying that position.

Muscat also noted that Gonzi pointed out that Tabone was left in his position for a full year after Gonzi became Prime Minister, before his appointment was not renewed.

"The Prime Minister's statement in itself raises more questions than it delivers answers," Muscat said.

"He is saying that he found him there. Is he blaming his predecessor?" Muscat asked, calling on Gonzi to be clear with regard to what he is implying with this statement. ""Did you know something in 2005, and why did you know renew his appointment?"

Muscat also set his sights on Finance Minister Tonio Fenech and the manner in which the documentation regarding oil trading company Aikon Limited (owned by George Farrugia) was passed onto the ministry by the secret services in 2011.

"This raises the natural question: How many cases were there where cases and documentation where referred to him by the secret service? Is this normal?"

He also noted statements that were given by Fenech is a recorded televised debate, which suggested that he did not have a right to see what it is in the file, which he contended was the reason that he was not aware of what was written in 2011.

"However we know that the Tax Compiance Unit investigation is still not complement, and yet Fenech confirmed that today he went to inquire as to what is in the file," Muscat noted.

"If he could inquire as to what the file contained today, he could have gone to see what it is in from day one, in 2011. What stopped him?"

Muscat also reiterated that Labour is in no way criticising parliament's decision to hand down a presidential pardon to George Farrugia, who is to turn State Witness in the ongoing investigation.

"There needs to be respect towards the institutions. We can judge the pardon when we know all the facts, and we will do so upon two criteria," Muscat said.

He explained that firstly, Labour would judge the pardon based upon how many people are arraigned in court with which they could have not be arraigned without the information provided by Farrugia.

Secondly, Muscat added Labour would judge the pardon based on what information Farrugia would provide to police which they would have been unable to obtain or discover by themselves, and how much stronger the cases against those arraigned would be as a result.

"For now, we will give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt - despite the heat of the campaign - because he has more information than us," Muscat said, adding that Labour aims to scrutinise in a manner that is "fair, strong, but with respect and with the idea that this is not a country of red and blue."