‘Our MEPs will vote in favour of Karmenu Vella’- PN

The Nationalist Party said that its three representatives in the European Parliament will vote in favour of Karmenu Vella’s nomination as a European Commissioner.

“Rather than welcoming the Nationalist Party’s public statement of support for Karmenu Vella, Prime Minister Joseph Muscatis casting doubt on it,” the PN said. “Surely this is not a good way to rally national unity.”

Earlier today, Muscat said that people will make their own comparisons about how the PN will respond to Vella’s nomination with how the Labour Party had supported Tonio Borg’s nomination as European Health Commissioner back in 2012.

On Wednesday, PN leader Simon Busuttil said that the Nationalist MEPs would be voting in favour of Vella’s nomination as European Commissioner. However, Sunday newspaper Kullhadd reported today that the PN were preparing to launch a smear campaign against Vella.

“Informed sources have told us that the PN is using people who have contacts in European circles,” Kullhadd reported. “They are also using English-language bloggers to try and smear Vella’s name.”

Vella has been handed the environment, fisheries and maritime affairs portfolio. Muscat described it as ‘the best European portfolio ever awarded to Malta’.

Earlier today, Muscat called for national unity ahead of Malta’s 50th independence anniversary. He was speaking at the annual general meeting of the Labour Party’s Paola section.

“We welcome Muscat’s call for national unity but we urge him to go one step further, to walk the talk,” the PN said. “We urge him to ensure that national unity is not just a slogan under Labour’s administration but a fact of life.”

In a statement, the PN also told Muscat to ‘reverse his unilateral decision to cancel local elections’ and to ‘give back to the people the public property that the Labour Party seized, unashamedly over the years, most recently the multi-million Australia Hall’.

They also told him to ‘reverse the discriminatory transfers meted out to talented people whose only fault was that of not voting Labour’.

The PN said that Muscat should fulfil those three requests by next week.