‘Wake up and smell the coffee’, Busuttil tells Muscat

In a mock-up of Joseph Muscat’s coined ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ appeal to the European Union, PN leader Simon Busuttil this evening called on the prime minister to “realise that he is wrong” after the government’s “failed” negotiations with the European Commission.

Taking umbrage at the European Commission’s decision to order Malta to cut its financial incentives for industrial investment, the Opposition leader insisted that the government’s failure to overturn the Commission’s decision highlighted its “incompetence” and poor negotiating skills.

“Clearly it is the prime minister, not the European Commission who needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Muscat must show the country that he is able to negotiate in Malta’s best interests – something which Malta has been starving for under the Labour Party.”

“If it were for a PN government it would have been a different story,” Busuttil claimed.

Busuttil was addressing the party’s final political activity before the European elections, and in what has now become usual practice, the PN leader once again focused on local issues, and failed to divulge any of the party’s positions or proposals on European issues.

Blasting the government for “steamrolling” over the country’s democracy, good governance and the rule of law, Busuttil argued that state entities, namely the police force and the army, have been “taken over” by the government and its appointees.

“What the government did in its first year, is a threat to democracy,” he underlined. 

“People are afraid of attending a political event out of fear that they would be transferred or discriminated against. Rather than applying the law on an equal footing, the government is treating people according to their political allegiance,” Busuttil said.

Taking exception at the government’s failure to publish its contract with Henley & Partners – the concessionaries of the government’s Individual Investor Programme - Busuttil argued that this highlighted the government’s deceit and its lack of standards.

“European standards demand high standards of governance. Instead of delivering on its electoral pledges, the government has not delivered good standards of governance. It has only delivered double standards,” Busuttil said.

Calling on the electorate to vest their trust in Nationalist Party candidates, Busuttil pinpointed the party’s values and the fact that it has “always” championed European values as the party’s main battle cries.

“During this campaign, the PN showed that it was truly the party which believed in the European values. The PN respects the dignity of the workers and the country because it does not want to sell the country’s citizenship,” he said.

Outlining the party’s values, Busuttil said the PN’s politics is built on honesty. In a dig at the Labour Party, he said the PN, as opposed to “other parties”, does not carry out discrimination and that it is a true advocate of equality.

“We will serve the people, not exploit them," he said while taking a swipe at the Labour Party.

In addition, Busuttil underlined that despite suffering its worst ever loss in the previous general election, the PN learned from its mistakes and it is now intent on securing the people’s trust, not the majority of votes.

Conceding that the PN has a mountain to climb to offset its 36,000-vote gap, the PN leader, insisted that the PN has no divine right to anyone’s vote.

Nevertheless, Busuttil said, "the PN is determined to regain the people’s trust. It is asking for people’s vote so that it could be in a position to serve the country once again.”

An upbeat Busuttil also called on the party faithful “not to give up”, arguing that if the PN fails to regain the people’s trust next Saturday, it would do so in the next election.