Maltese presidency will not distract government’s focus - Muscat

The government would remain completely focused on issues that could make a difference in the quality of life of the people, even in these six months in which Malta took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday.

Muscat, speaking on One Radio, said he was proud that the government was continuing to manage to incentivise the economy, leading to the creation of new job opportunities.

“Official statistics this week revealed that 24,000 new jobs had been created in the past three years alone,” he said. “Before the election, we were told it would be impossible to create a lot of new jobs, but we knew different, and we have created more jobs in three years than the previous administration did in five years.”

Muscat said the government had also managed to reduce unemployment from nearly 8,000 to 3,021 this month, the lowest number of unemployed people ever recorded in the country’s history.

“Any measure the government introduces is only possible because we have managed to create and maintain a strong economy and because we have managed to create new job opportunities,” he said. “Nothing would be possible without these two crucial elements.”

The prime minister said the government planned to continue delivering positive results across all sectors.

“Tourism in Malta increased by 30% last year, leading operators to hardly notice any difference between summer and winter months,” he said.

The same positive results led to a reduction in the price of 29 more medicines this week, further complemented – for example – by the introduction of new benefits for diabetics.

With regards to the price of fuel, Muscat acknowledged this week’s 4c per litre increase on the price of petrol, but said the government’s strong performance in the sector meant the price hike was kept to an absolute minimum.

“The increase is, in fact, lower than the EU average and is evidence that our strategy of hedging three-month fuel contracts is working,” he said. “If we had listened to the leader of the opposition, we would have had to raise energy tariffs, making it impossible for some people to warm their homes in the chilling cold weather of the past days.”

Muscat said the government had made some mistakes, but insisted it always sought to immediately make amends and rectify the situation.

“As it had done in government, the Nationalist Party in oppposition refuses to acknowledge its mistakes or wrongdoing by its members,” he said.

“We saw this yesterday, after Minister Owen Bonnici presented new evidence in the case of shadow spokesman Jason Azzopardi, whom he accused of helping Zaren Vassallo acquire the site of the former Lowenbrau brewery in Qormi at a pittance of what it was really worth.”

PN's reaction

In a statement, the Nationalist Party said Muscat’s comments on the 4c increase in the price of petrol and diesel were proof of how detached he was from the reality of Maltese and Gozitans families.

“For those on the minimum wage, pensioners, those who do not afford cancer medication and those who have to make sacrifices on behalf of their families, the increase in the price of petrol and diesel is quite substantial,” the party said.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the government are so embroiled in corruption that they are completely unaware of what families go through behind closed doors.