Labour conference | ‘Busuttil desperate for power’, says former PN mayor

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil is “desperate for power” and “you shouldn’t let him intimidate you”, notary Ian Castaldi Paris, the former president of the Nationalist Party's college of local councilors, told the Labour delegates this evening.

Addressing the general conference for the second consecutive year, Castaldi Paris described Busuttil’s “desperation” as stemming from the “fact that he knows that the Nationalist Party doesn’t want him”.

“His stamping of feet will not get him anywhere. As an ex-Nationalist I urge you to stand up … don’t let him intimidate you,” the former PN mayor said.

He accused Busuttil of “organising demonstrations to attract the attention of the foreign media” and of using his people in Brussels to hinder Toni Abela’s nomination to the European Court of Auditors.

“Shame on you,” he told the PN.

Castaldi Paris pledged his loyalty towards the Labour leader: “Last year I was accused of being an opportunist, of joining you because you had won the elections with a 36,000 majority. Today I am here, to support you in this challenging phase.”

The second session of the Labour Party’s annual general conference continued this evening at the party’s headquarter with various party delegates intervening during the plenary session.

The general conference is taking place in the shadows of the revelations of Panama Papers, which confirmed the offshore trusts and companies held by Energy Minister and Labour’s deputy leader Konrad Mizzi.

Interventions made by the various speakers praised the Labour government for the social and economic reforms achieved, including the push given to women to join the workforce and help families out of the poverty trap.

The conference’s theme is ‘A changed Malta’, which led to the interventions to focus on how the country had changed in various sectors such the education, health and the energy.

Georvin Bugeja, a student and party delegate, encouraged educators to take challenging steps in the education system offering alternatives to written exams. “Exams create excessive pressures on the students … our education system needs to promote critical thinkers,” he said.

Mtarfa mayor Daniel Attard delivered a scathing attack against the members of the opposition, comparing them with the achievements of the Cabinet members in their different portfolios. He accused PN leader Simon Busuttil of arrogance “in his bid to achieve power in every way possible”.

Attard said it was “surreal” that the government that helped bring about a 6.3% economic growth was now facing a no confidence motion. The opposition announced it will move for a no confidence in government in the wake of revelations from the Panama Papers leak; the government said it was ready to discuss the motion next week.

The delegates set much in store in denouncing the PN demonstration outside the law courts on Wednesday afternoon, which resulted in journalists being manhandled by party supporters.

“Harking back to the violence of the 80s, the PN used to scare us youths with what they said would happen if Labour is elected to power. Indeed, the PN gave us a taste of what they meant when last Wednesday, PN supporters kicked us, spit on us and offended one of us with his disability,” FZL president Alex Saliba said.

“The PN should know that it will not intimidate us. You will not scare us and we will not stoop down to your levels. We will not let your intimidation and bullying tactics stop us. Simon Busuttil can be as destructive as he wants, but we are different.”