A PN government will guarantee everyone has a right to have a roof over their heads, Nationalist Party Leader Adrian Delia said on Wednesday evening.
Closing off the PN's General Council, Delia spoke about the challenged being faced by young couples who were finding it hard to afford to buy or rent property. "We are a party that believes in life, but we also believe that people have a right decent living."
He accused the government of only being interested in importing cheap labour. "We are not against foreign workers," he said, "but the repercussions of this government's policies will be felt for many years to come."
Delia said there were 72,000 people at risk of poverty. The government has a duty to be there for these people as well and to ensure that wealth is distributed equally and justly, he said.
The government says it is pro-business but is only interested in big business. It is ensuring that salaries remain low and had increased taxes on anything from detergents, to cement to mobile phones, he said. "Muscat is interested in those who can spend €5,000 a day when we are interested in seeing how we can help those who cannot get by with €10,000 a year."
The PN Leader focused part of his speech on democracy, which, he said, was under threat. "Every commentator, report and entity investigating our country is saying this."
He referred to the Ombudsman's report on army promotions, which looked into several fast-tracked promotions that took place soon after the 2013 general election. The Ombudsman concluded that the process was vitiated and carried out only to rubberstamp decisions that had already been taken by the administration.
"This government was elected democratically but soon after started hijacking the institutions. Something similar is happening within the police force, where the government changed commissioners until it found someone who is a puppet for Castille," Delia said.
"The same can be said for the Attorney General's Office, which today defends the government instead of the country."
Delia said the government had also given out three state hospitals for free. "They say that power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts in absolute ways."
He also referred to the recent report about the Algerian visas scandal, and the Venice Commission report, which expressed serious doubts about the rule of law in Malta and the way in which the institutions operate.
The PN will not allow the government to leave the institutions in this state. These changes have to happen now, not after the constitutional reform, he said.
A report by Transparency International gave Malta its worst ranking ever, he said.
"This is a government that refused to take action against Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi despite the FIAU reports. It allowed corruption at the FTS to go on unabated. Yet it sacked FIAU whistleblower Jonathan Ferris. The corrupt cannot fight corruption; they cannot give us justice and are not worthy to lead the country."
Quoting the Economist, he said Malta and Cyprus have a reputation of financial sleaze.
This is the legacy that Joseph Muscat would leave behind him, he said.
Muscat allowed banks like Pilatus Bank to set up shop, and the Satabank situation to develop in the way that it did.
He spoke about the Australia Hall case, which saw the government drop a court case and gift the property to the Labour Party. He referred to the Café Premier scandal, the American University of Malta and the Vitals deal.
"If the government tries to take even one metre of land to use not in the national interest it will find us here ready to stop them, to defend the interests of the people. You do not have the power in this country. We will fight the good fight, for the common interest," he said, when referring to the Corinthia deal.
Closing off his speech, Delia said the PN refuses to sell Malta's hospitals, citizenship and principles.
The PN wants to safeguard the environment, revive the cultural sector and give power back to local councils. "We want the country to gain back the respect it has lost."
"The PN will be the natural party for workers, local councils, technology, education – this is why we are united, one voice. We are together for our country," he concluded.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2TqkuWE
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