Chamber warns Simon Busuttil not to call general strike

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has told the Chamber of Commerce that he has no intention of calling a national strike. Busuttil was warned that any initiative to organise such a strike action would cause irreparable damage to the economy.

This was confirmed by the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Anton Borg, who spoke to MaltaToday.  

When contacted, Borg confirmed that he had reacted to a rumour that the Nationalist Party was considering a general strike. He said that he then called for a meeting with Busuttil.

“I told him that a protest is one thing but a general strike would be unacceptable for the Chamber, as it would harm the economy.”  

Borg told MaltaToday that Busuttil assured him that a general strike was not on the cards.

The PN is riding on a high in the wake of a seven-week crisis and after the Panama Papers were released last Sunday, reconfirming the existence of accounts for Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri.

Busuttil, who will be leading a second national protest in Valletta this afternoon on the matter, is expected to put more pressure on Joseph Muscat, and is calling on the 41-year-old Prime Minister to resign.

Busuttil has even brushed aside questions put to him about the resignations of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri, saying that they are now ‘irrelevant’ and what counts now is for Muscat to resign.