Nationalist Party criticises Opposition leader Joseph Muscat for being tight-lipped solving bureaucracy and education policies.
Bianca Caruana
In a statement issued shortly after a speech made by Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat this morning, the Nationalist Party criticised Muscat’s lack of transparency regarding education policies.
“With Muscat tight-lipped on education, students cannot rule out that, like Sant before him, Muscat too will pull out the proverbial rabbit out of the hat. Back then it was stipends, Labour made a meal out of the student stipend system,” the PN said.
Muscat this morning said that stipends will be strengthened by the Labour Party should it be voted into office but the PN find it hard to believe without concrete policies revealed by the party’s leader.
“People have absolutely no idea where they stand with Joseph Muscat. He ignores, completely, repeated calls to put his cards on the table, and flesh out Labour’s policies regarding work, education, health, and the environment. Shame. People deserve better – people want to know where they stand with someone who wants to become Prime Minister in a year’s time,” the PN said.
In his speech this morning, Muscat said bureaucracy and red tape within the government was a problem restricting the labour market in Malta from progressing and creating employment.
The PN retorted by saying it was not enough for the opposition leader to claim that he would fight bureaucracy because it was easy to say.
“He needs to explain how he will fight bureaucracy. It is not enough for Muscat to say that he will put SMEs at the top of his priorities – god forbid that any government puts SMEs at the bottom of its priorities - although, that is what successive labour administrations did – Labour’s track record on SMEs is anything but positive.
“He needs to explain what incentives he’ll give them – unfortunately, Muscat keeps SMEs in the dark. Then he speaks about health – superficially, that is – because he is tight lipped on labour’s policies in this sector. People ask, and rightly so, how will a labour government decrease waiting lists? Will Muscat halt the construction of the new cancer hospital, which he has, on numerous occasions, criticized vociferously?” PN said.
Referring to claims made by Muscat regarding stipends, the PN said that this was “the cherry on the cake”.
“He speaks about stipends. He, out of all people, tries to give the impression that labour will ensure the current stipend system. Hilarious – coming from someone who has made it known to all and sundry that should labour make it to Castille in 2013 Edward Scicluna will be his finance minister.
“Yes, Scicluna, the same person who way back in 2008 lashed out against the current stipend system, and described it as unsustainable. Students know that education is not safe under a labour government,” the PN said.
Digging the stake deeper, the PN continued to criticise Muscat’s claims that stipends would remain untouched by making reference to pledges made by former Prime Minister Alfred Sant in 1996 who said he would not change the stipend system.
“This was until Sant became Prime Minister and made a meal out of the student stipend system. Conveniently, Muscat wants us to forget the recent past – when he defended Evarist Bartolo’s decision to remove stipends and convert them into loans.
“Of course, Muscat said nothing about his grossly irresponsible decision to vote against the education bill – proof, yet again, that for him power comes before principle. Muscat takes the wrong decisions, even on education, to the detriment of Maltese students,” the PN concluded.