Updated | Owen Bonnici will be transferred to OPM, priority is “calm transition”

Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Owen Bonnici, will be transferred from Home Affairs to OPM.

This was announced by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this morning, during a press conference on the steps of Castille celebrating the government's first three months in office.

This measure is being carried out in response to PN criticism that there was no separation of justice and home affairs. According to Muscat, this confirmed that the current administration was "a government that listens".

The Prime Minister stated that his first priority was to carry out a calm transition between administrations; "Very different to the doomsday scenario the PN predicted," he said.

Among the difficulties faced, the Prime Minister mentioned that the outgoing administration left no handover, and that the public service was not ready for the transition of power.

"We found a chaotic scenario," he said, while reiterating Labour's promise that one can work with this government even though one may not necessarily share the same political opinion.

He added that the previous government had not taken any decisions during the last year for electoral reasons. On the other hand, Muscat underlined his intention to take the necessary decisions, even the difficult and the unpopular ones. "I will be a Prime Minister for everyone, where the politics of the past will not be the politics of the future" continued Muscat, while stating that unfortunately the PN opposition showed the same arrogance and thus did not learn the lesson from the recent electoral result.

He said that after these 100 days, it was now time to address personal issues. He made reference to the injustices suffered by civil servants under the last administrations, especially in the process of granting promotions. The other personal issues revolved around the health sector, namely the out of stock medicines and the situation found in the Emergency department.

The Prime Minister also announced that MP Michael Falzon would be appointed as commissioner against bureaucracy. "I'm so sick of bureaucracy," he said, expressing his frustration that the Prime Minister's decisions were implemented slowly due to bureaucratic procedures.

He also revealed the launch of a consultative council for the South.

When questioned about the recent criticism by the PN following parliamentary secretary Franco Mercieca's breach of ethics, Muscat said the PN had no credentials to oppose this, citing corruption in their administration. He said that this government had a different attitude and took the necessary steps. "The PN did not learn from its mistakes. Even the PN's own analysis of the electoral loss contradicted the recent positions taken by the opposition, for instance on the size of the cabinet" the Prime Minister said.

Joseph Muscat also said that during the first 100 days, his government was committed to ensuring a number of expressions of interests for major projects, including land reclamation and a cruise liner terminal in Gozo, were issued. These, he said, would bear fruits at the end of the legislature.

Muscat said he believed Malta would be on target with regard to keeping the deficit-to-GDP ratio under three per cent, in compliance with EU rules, and also said the energy plan was on target.

Discussions about the financing of the political parties were postponed in light of the current financial difficulties the PN was experiencing, the Prime Minister concluded.