Muscat wants PL policy changed to allow MP to succeed Abela

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will propose changes to the Labour Party’s structure that will allow a MP to succeed Toni Abela as deputy leader for party affairs.

Addressing a political activity in Lija, he said that the time is ripe to “modernise” the party structure and “abolish the assumption that the Labour Party and its parliamentary group must work separately from each other”. 

The Labour party structure includes two deputy leader posts – one for parliamentary affairs currently occupied by deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech, and another for party affairs currently occupied by Toni Abela. According to a long-standing policy, the deputy leader for party affairs cannot be a serving MP and is forbidden from contesting the general election.

However, Muscat will propose to remove this requirement from the party code during an extraordinary party conference that has been scheduled for Friday, which could pave the way for a serving Labour MP to be elected to replace Abela.

“The requirement that our deputy leader for party affairs cannot be a MP or contest the general election has served us well in the past, but the time has come to modernise the party structures,” Muscat told the party faithful. “The time has come to write a new chapter in the history of Labour’s party operations, and we must continuously update our internal structure to ensure that it remains the most efficient political organisation in the country.”

He hailed Toni Abela, who he had nominated on Saturday to succeed Louis Galea as Malta’s member of the European Court of Auditors.

“Abela is a man of integrity who had left the Labour Party [in 1989] when he disagreed with the way it was operating, and I am convinced that he will do Malta proud in his new role,” he said. “When in Opposition, the PL had always backed the previous Nationalist governments’ nominations for top European roles, as we had considered them to be nominees of the country, not of the party,” he said. “Of course, it’s up to the Opposition if they want to adopt this attitude or not.”

‘Busuttil riding the wave of racist sentiment over AUM’

The Prime Minister accuses PN leader Simon Busuttil of running a fear campaign over the proposed ‘American University of Malta’ by instructing party representatives to warn Marsaskala and Cospicua residents that the project will result in their localities getting swamped by “blacks and Arabs”.

“On the ground, the PN is trying to ride the wave of xenophobic and racist sentiment, even claiming that the project will also include a mosque,” Muscat said. “If Busuttil is a man, he should personally make those claims himself.”

He insisted that the AUM – that will start life as the ‘American Institute of Malta’ – will attract 4,000 foreign students, that will “boost the economy”.

In his speech, Muscat also hit out at his counterpart for “using disgusting terms” to criticise the government, ostensibly referring to his recent description of them as ‘mafia’.

“As Opposition leader, I once called [then Prime Minister] Lawrence Gonzi a liar on live television, and I was criticised extremely heavily in the press, after which I decided not to repeat such terms as the public don’t want political leaders to hurl insults at each other,” he said. “However, the amount of insults that keep coming out of Busuttil’s mouth is incredible, and yet they only serve to draw more and more people away from his party.”

He described Busuttil’s position that the government should immediately lower fuel prices so as to reflect the current low market price of oil as “comedic”.

“He wants lower fuel prices now because oil is cheap, but then he would disagree with increasing fuel prices when oil prices rise again,” he said. “The government’s plan is to gradually lower fuel prices in a sustainable manner, which is a better strategy than allowing fuel prices to continuously fluctuate according to shifts in the oil market.” 

‘Environment not only about planning permits’

Muscat welcomed a recent study by Yale and Columbia universities that ranked Malta in ninth place out of 180 countries on its ability to protect ecosystems and human health.

“The environment isn’t only about planning permits, a sector we can improve on, but also about air quality, water quality, waste treatment and sewage treatment,” he said. “The study took a holistic view on the environment and Malta finished in ninth place, while the United States was ranked 26th.”

He also hailed a recent study by Transparency International, in which Malta gained one point to its corruption perceptions index when compared to 2014. Malta now has 56 points, which is identical to its 2013 score but one point lower from its 2012 score.

Muscat said that that this report proves that the government is truly committed to fighting corruption. 

‘Not a word about Falzon's accusations against NAO’ – PN

The Nationalist Party hit out at Muscat for not speaking about former parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon’s recent accusation that National Audit officials had colluded with the Lands Departments’ external architect during their investigation into the expropriation of half a building from Mark Gaffarena.

“Although the public is speaking about Falzon’s ferocious attack on an independent institution, Muscat chose to ignore it entirely,” the PN said in a statement. “Muscat’s government is facing a corruption crisis, and he is mistaken if he believes that the public will forget about this scandal is he doesn’t speak about it.”

The party also reiterated its claim that the government is forcing people to “fork out money for the government’s corruption” by keeping fuel prices expensive.