Busuttil promises ministry for citizens’ rights under PN administration

A Nationalist government will set up a ministry for the rights of the citizen, to ensure that anyone suffering injustice and discrimination at the hands of the Labour government – but even in the future – would be able to find justice and remedy to their situation, according to opposition leader Simon Busuttil.

Busuttil, who was addressing a discussion meeting on Il-Fosos in Floriana, as part of the party’s activities leading to Independence Day on Wednesday, said that the PN was today the only voice and shield for anyone suffering injustice and discrimination at the hand of the Labour administration.

He said the party had always taken to heart its self-assumed role as the voice of weak and those without other representation.

He noted how the party had protected him and backed him when, as a young man, he was told that he could not attend university, because of a decision taken by the Labour government.

“The party,” he said, “today remains a voice and a shield for those opposed to corruption, and has demonstrated this in scandal after scandal that came to light under this administration.”

PN government will set up a ministry for citizens' rights

Busuttil mentioned the fight the opposition had put up in the case of the Gaffarena affair, the Café Premier issue, the Panama Papers scandal and the allocation of public land in Zonqor for the building of the American University of Malta.

“We are continuing to give a voice to those people who are today suffering great injustices, who are humiliated and discriminated against solely because of their political beliefs,” he said.

“To all those people, I can promise them justice, I can promise them that those practicing injustice and discrimination will be made to pay for their behaviour.”

Busuttil said that a PN government would set up a minister for the rights of the citizen to ensure that anyone suffering injustice or other form of discrimination would be able to find a remedy to their situation.

“And anyone not satisfied with the outcome after going to this new ministry would be able to report his case to the ombudsman who would investigate each case independently,” he said.

Busuttil said this was further evidence of how the Nationalist Party remained – even today – a shield and a voice for the entire country.

In his concluding comments, Busuttil said he had met many staunch Labour supporters who felt betrayed by their party, who felt that the party had sold its soul to make some people millionaires.

Josie Muscat, former MP and founder of Saint James Hospital, spoke of the health sector and said that Malta now had a communist system, where people pay national insurance but are the not allowed to choose between public or private care.

People opting for private health care should be given compensation, he said, while calling for a health minister for both the public and private sectors.

Muscat also criticised the government for favouring foreign investors over locals in the case of investment and projects in the healthcare industry.

Anne Fenech, president of the Nationalist Party executive council, spoke of the system of cedoli introduced by the party, and said that this system does away with the notion of donations and the give-and-take associated with them.

The cedoli paid to the party would be paid after ten years, and the party would therefore not be bound to whoever paid them, as often happened in the case of donations, where people tended to expect something in return for their donation.

As to claims by the Labour party that the system was facilitating money laundering, Fenech said this was not possible since no cash payments were accepted, but only payments by cheque which could be traced and audited.

Many people were starting to feel that the PN alone could represent their interests well and that the Labour Party no longer had their back.

“As to those PN supporters who voted Labour in the last election, it is not their fault that Joseph Muscat betrayed them,” he said. “To all those, I say they are welcome back at any time within the folds of the Nationalist Party.”