Gozo received ‘best possible package’ from PN government, says Busuttil

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said that the decision on whether Gozo should be considered a region or not should be one made by government and not the European Union.

Busuttil was referring to claims made yesterday by the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who hit out at the PN for failing to convince the EU that Gozo should be considered as such, during its time in governance.

Busuttil said that Muscat was either trying to mislead the public or was himself misinformed on the issue, stressing that the PN government had a very good track record in obtaining EU funds for both Malta and Gozo.

“The real question should always be on how to gain more funds from the European Union,” he said. “And the party which did that was the PN.”

He said that the Nationalist government was successful in getting the “best possible package” for Gozo. “I do not expect a thank you from the Prime Minister but neither do I expect him to spin the truth.”

Busuttil was speaking at the PN’s headquarters during a press conference organised to launch the campaign for the upcoming elections in several small villages and hamlets around Malta.

In total, the party will be represented by 52 candidates contesting in 16 localities. Of these, however, only five localities will actually host an election as the remaining 11 will see candidates automatically elected as a result of low candidate-representation.

Asked whether this was an indication of the significance attached to these elections, Busuttil laid the blame at the feet of the opposing party, who will only be putting forward 24 candidates. This number, Busuttil said, showed the Labour Party’s “Big lack of respect” for these hamlets.

“The low turnout is the responsibility of the Labour Party,” he said. “We believe that these hamlets are very important and their representation is very relevant for to us.”