Grech says Abela focused on hiding his past: 'He is not prepared, but we are'

Nationalist leader Bernard Grech said Prime Minister Robert Abela is not prepared for the election, and is spending his energy on trying to amend his reputation following reports by the media.

“Robert Abela is focused on hiding his past, and is not prepared, but we are,” he told supporters in Paola on Monday evening.

The PN leader was referring to media reports which revealed Abela netted €45,000 on a property deal with a car dealership boss at the centre of a police investigation and an abduction case.

As a Labour MP in June 2018, Abela entered a contract to buy a Zabbar field, only to transfer his stake to auto-dealer and a few months later.

On Monday morning, Robert Abela refused to engage with the press on questions related to his middleman role on Zabbar land acquisition.

“No wonder he called the elections as soon as stories on Christian Borg started emerging,” Grech said. “Who knows what else might emerge?”

He said the Labour Party is copying the PN’s proposals. “They first ridicule our proposals, and then they copy us. Story of their life.”

“What do you want? The original or the copy?” Grech said.

The Nationalist leader also mentioned the Environment, Social Responsibility and Governance (ESG) criteria laid out in the party’s manifesto.

“We want to pave the way so that the country’s projects and work are based on ESG incentives,” he said. “It’s the small contributions which people carry out that make a difference. We will change the country with these small actions, and a Nationalist government will be there to build on this success.”

On Monday, the PN leader said a Nationalist government will ensure that 50,000sq.m of public land will be added to ODZ areas every year. For development to go ahead on ODZ land, a decision would require a two-thirds consensus in parliament.

“We want to present the ideal, the policy we will work on, and this will be the guideline we will be working on,” Grech said. “Had the guideline been in place, the land transfer to Sadeen would have never taken place.”

The PN leader also spoke on the party’s proposal that unemployed people will receive the equivalent of the minimum wage in unemployment benefits for the first 12 months to encourage them to get trained.

“We want to help people get the training they need, to perfect their skills. This will help them focus on getting a good job,” he said.

“In 2004 I had an accident and almost killed a person. I spent months not working and it affected my mental health. I know what it means to not have a job to go to,” Grech said. He clarified the scheme is not aimed at people who have passed through a similar ordeal.

“You know what it means to live on minimum wage. You know what it means to live on €900 a month. Robert Abela received €20,000 a month, and does not understand your reality,” he said.