PN leader: ‘European elections are about judging Labour’s first year’

Simon Busuttil not taking PN's third seat for granted

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said the Nationalist Party is aiming for its third seat in the European Parliament, after 10 years of electing two MEPs out of six Maltese members.

Launching the PN's European elections campaign, party leader Simon Busuttil said that although “the party isn’t taking anything for granted” the opposition was aiming at electing three MEPs for the first time ever and expressed his pride in presenting a "formidable team of candidates."

Asked what objectives the PN had set in terms of reducing the gap on Labour, Busuttil said that the opposition’s main target is that of electing three MEPs while reducing the gap was only “secondary.”

“We are not taking anything for granted, but we must work hard. Five years ago we did not manage to elect three seats so there is no guarantee at all. Closing the gap on Labour is a secondary objective,” he said, adding that nobody was expecting the PN to close the gap completely after 12 months.

“We want a better Malta – after one year of Labour, Malta is not better… it deserves better,” Busuttil said of the PN’s electoral slogan.

“We want better jobs, better services, and a better government,” Busuttil said, saying the European elections will be about sending a message to Joseph Muscat’s government.

“Muscat has disappointed in this first year… the elections are an opportunity for people to express themselves on this first year of government. Not only did he not deliver on his electoral pledges, he also implemented things which did not appear in Labour’s electoral programme and made wrong choices.”

In a reference to Muscat’s 2013 electoral slogan ‘Malta Taghna Lkoll’ (Malta for all), Busuttil said Labour had provided a “better Malta for its friends”, for Labour candidates, and for people whom Labour featured on its electoral billboards and adverts.

“There has been a political take-over in the army and the police,” Busuttil said. “We want good governance, because this is what Labour promised, and what it is not delivering.”

Busuttil said Labour was not delivering on transparency, political responsibility, and public consultation.

He said Labour’s call for zero-tolerance on corruption was betrayed by its ‘100% tolerance’ to pardon all consumers who had bribed Enemalta installers to hack into their smart meters.

“This government ignored the public on the sale of citizenship, and it took the Opposition to force the government to change these rules of the IIP four times; and it ignored the public’s views on the berthing of an LNG tanker in Marsaxlokk,” Busuttil said, referring to his party’s two main concerns over the past six months.

Busuttil, whose party also abstained on a vote legislating civil unions because it included gay adoptions, also accused the government of ignoring the general public’s discomfort with same-sex adoptions.

“The people can use this election to express its disappointment in the labour government and send a clear signal to government that its 36,000 vote majority did not grant it a license to do as it pleases.”

“He had no mandate to sell citizenship, no mandate to berth the LNG tanker, no mandate to introduce gay adoptions,” Busuttil said.

Flanked by the party's top officials and the 11 candidates contesting the May election, Busuttil said that "Malta deserves better" and both the party and the people have "aspirations" for a better economy, job opportunities and governance.

He added that the opposition had "made its own contribution" by being an effective opposition and by backing over 80% of laws approved in Parliament, backing the nomination of former Labour stalwart Marie Louise Coleiro Preca as President and moving a number of private members bill.

Launching the 'A better Malta' slogan, PN secretary general Chris Said stressed that the party was portraying a positive message which will " focus on the people, including students, pensioners and the self employed."

He added that the party will be visiting thousands of persons during the campaign, which would "help us understand better the people's needs and shape our policy to improve the country's standard of living."

Every decision taken inside the European Parliament effects everybody's daily lives, Busuttil said, adding that statistics had shown that the two PN MEPs David Casa and Roberta Metsola had been more effective than the four Labour MEPs.

"The PN's policy at a European level is also different from Labour's because for us its not a matter of us and them," he added.

Said pointed out that in recent weeks and months, the party already embarked on a reaching out campaign and he said that "it is evident that the prime minister joseph muscat's 'Malta for all' slogan has not been implemented."

Describing the forthcoming election as "the most difficult election the PN has ever faced" because the party starts off from a 36,000 vote disadvantage and warned that the opposition will be "inundated" by the Labour Party's superior financial muscle, "including the use of public funds."

However, Said said that the party has "the best team of candidates" and the election offers the country an opportunity to send a clear message to the Labour administration.

Later this week, Said noted, the PN will hold an extraordinary council meeting to approve the electoral programme for the European elections.