Muscat has dragged Malta's reputation 'through the mud', AD says

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has dragged Malta's reputation through the mud, Alternattiva Demokratika said as it reacted to the latest vote in the European Parliament.

AD said that Malta had reached this stage because of the “rotten system” propped up “by successive PLPN governments, the proximity of these parties to big business, unregulated lobbying, and an unrepresentative system which grants untrammelled and absolute power to these two parties.”

AD Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said that “it is a shame that Joseph Muscat has dragged Malta’s name through the mud. It is also a shame that the big parties keep thwarting real reform.”

The party was reacting to a resolution in the European Parliament on Wednesday that was overwhelmingly approved which called on the Brussels executive to enter into dialogue with Malta over rule of law failings and criticising Joseph Muscat’s failure to step down immediately.

AD spokesperson on European Affairs Mina Tolu said that Muscat abused the powers of his office, to protect his “corrupt friends and cronies, and unashamedly doing the bidding of criminal big business, greedy property speculators and multimillionaires.”

"He protected and shielded people involved in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The current situation shows us that the current concentration of power in the office of the Prime Minister is dangerous and subject to abuse,” she said.

Tolu said one of the fundamental problems with Maltese democracy and the rule of law is the current setup of the office of the prime minister as well as the PLPN system that has “bankrolled by big business and property tycoons.”

“Malta must adhere to the rule of law and European values. Alternattiva Demokratika has been making proposals for strengthening our democracy for years. Now it seems that others, after years of putting spokes in the wheels of reform are slowly waking up. We reiterate our calls for a truly representative electoral system, a Parliament which holds governments and Prime Ministers to account, a system of public hearings for the appointment of important state officials, and the closing down of party television stations,” she said.

Tolu said in particular, AD called for the closing of loopholes in the party financing system, which she said allowed both the Labour party as well as the Nationalist party to fund their media houses under the disguise of advertising. 

“A serious discussions on state funding through a fixed amount of funding pegged to the number of votes parties garner in elections,” she said.