Muscat stands by BOV chairman who addressed Labour event

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has dismissed the Opposition’s criticism at BOV Chairman John Cassar White, insisting that Cassar White is a trusted employee who was even appointed by previous Nationalist administrations, and a man who carries out his work independently of one’s political allegiance.

Speaking during an interview on One Radio, the prime minister said the criticism was undermining the long-standing consensus between the two political parties when it comes to the financial services industry.

On Sunday, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil criticised Michael Falzon’s €260,000 early BOV retirement scheme, arguing that this was tantamount for Falzon’s resignation. In addition, this morning, Busuttil said, “Bank of Valletta is being led by a Chairman who is a puppet in the hands of Castille.” Busuttil also said that the BOV Chairman has also attended Labour’s meetings, the most recent one being in April 2014, when in the run-up to the MEP elections, John Cassar White was one of the four guests invited to address a Labour political activity.

Expressing disappointment at the “surprising” criticism levelled at Cassar White, Muscat argued previous Nationalist administrations had appointed him as a chairman of the Malta Shipyards, and that during his tenure, he carried out his work without looking at people’s political ideologies. This, Muscat said, was a case of “double standards.”

Similarly, the Labour leader said that the Opposition’s “shocking and incomprehensible” attacks against MCAST and Martin Scicluna, Head of the National Commission for Higher and Further Education.

“Anyone who knows Scicluna knows that he carries out his work independently. This is a government who works with everyone, even with those who do not agree with us. On the contrary, the Nationalist Party attacks anyone who disagrees with it … this truly shows the PN’s true colours and its double standards,” Muscat underlined.

Pledging to improve Malta’s infrastructure and the problems in the country’s power distribution network, Muscat explained that the recent power failures were due to a lack of investment in the distribution network in the past few years.

Muscat explained that in light of the record demand for electricity, the government was working on a programme to strengthen the network.

Welcoming the launch of the new maternity leave fund, Muscat explained that the fund would serve to eliminate discrimination and prejudice against women. At present, employers are responsible to pay salaries of their employees for 14 weeks after she would have given birth, but under the new system, all employers will not be paying a minimum contribution for each of their employees, regardless of their gender.

“The underlying goal behind the maternity leave was to remove discrimination and to ensure that people are not being prejudiced, but employed on their merits. This is what makes us European and the best in Europe,” he said.

Hitting out at the Opposition’s “negativity,” Muscat also said that the PN’s criticism of the new party financing law was “surreal.”

“It is surreal for the Nationalist Party to criticise a law that had been left on the backburner for 25 years. The law was already there as Franco Debono had proposed it, but for some reason, the PN failed to implement the law,” he said. Conversely, Muscat boasted that the Labour government had implemented the law in its first two years.  

The prime minister also dismissed the PN’s criticism of the appointment of the Electoral Commission as the regulator of the parties’ spending, arguing that the Commission is the same organ which has for years, been entrusted with overseeing the country’s elections.