Political decisions and a populist approach rule Muscat's government - Simon Busuttil

The true colours of this government are coming out showing the hypocrisy behind Labour's pre-election stints, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said this morning.

Talking on a radio interview, Busuttil said that prior to the election Joseph Muscat had labelled the power station operating on heavy fuel oil as a cancer factory however he has now extended its operation up to 2014, "yet prior to the March ballots the PL had pledged to convert the power station to work on diesel".

"Joseph Muscat played on the fears and concerns of the electorate to harvest votes", Busuttil argued. The PN leader questioned the memorandum of understanding signed with Libya and asked when will this come into force now that Libya has problems and is purchasing oil for it's own needs.

Highlighting the recent raise in the price of unleaded fuel as the highest ever, Busuttil demanded the figures showing how much would the Maltese people be saving at the fuel pumps once the agreement is put in action.

Another aspect of Muscat's populist approach can be seen in the way the government has handed the issue of illegal migration, said Busuttil, while listing the damage Malta sustained after the Prime Minister's inclination for pushbacks. He explained how during 2013 Malta witnessed more illegal immigration than in 2012. "Muscat fuelled racism and xenophobia in Malta while destroying Malta's reputation in Brussels", the PN leader held.

The government led by Dr Muscat repeatedly took wrong, politically motivated, decisions over the alleged air pollution claim at the Marsascala Family Park. Simon Busuttil said that if there were problems in the management of the park, these should have been addressed rather than the park closed down. He said that this was another politically motivated decision from which the public lost a place where to go out as a family and nobody gained anything. However Busuttil refrained from commenting about the report issued by the MEU over the Marsascala Family Park.

More hypocrisy is shown in the health sector. While not expecting the government to solve all the problems in this sector, Busuttil argued that the PL has further compounded the problems. While under the previous PN led government the issue of 'out of stock medicines' was under control, now it has spiralled into an alarming situation.

Dr Busuttil argued that PN leadership went through trying moments. He said the decision to terminate jobs at PN owned companies was his toughest call, however his first priority was the party. A party, which was at its worst moment of the last 50 years. Discussing the policy, structural and financial aspects of the party administration, the PN leader said that while keeping away from undermining the work carried out by his predecessors, there were a lot of issues that needed to be addressed. "The prior administration did a lot of good work, however problems needed to be tackled at different levels", he said.

PN's most pressing problem is its financial situation, however by the end of September the Party will be earning enough to cater for its expenses, including the activities to celebrate Independence.

The leader of the Opposition asked if it was right that the party does not celebrate one of its biggest achievements -Independence Day. Never the less, finances were kept in check and the Party's Media structure is here to stay, he said.