Delia says PN wants to help 7000 families 'forgotten' by the government

PN Leader Adrian Delia expressed concern at the number of persons left unemployed in the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that “there are 7000 families that the government is telling ‘you are nobody and I have forgotten you’,” adding that the PN wanted to help them.

In a wide-ranging TV interview with journalist Matthew Charles Zammit, the leader of the opposition parried questions about the possibility of an early election, saying that the most important thing is the country’s wealth and how it will emerge from this difficult period.

He emphasised the plight of families living hand to mouth, despite being given financial assistance which was now going to stop.

Delia said there appeared to be a rift between Prime Minister Robert Abela and the Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne on the health response to the pandemic. He said the PN had made many proposals and had not only pointed out the government’s shortcomings. Much of what it proposed had found support and some of the proposals had been implemented by the government.

Whilst describing this as encouraging, Delia however added that the government had been insensitive on the economic and social aspects of the virus.

Asked about the issue of migrants being detained offshore, Delia said the issue should not be used as a political football, as it concerned people’s lives. Delia’s first priority is the Maltese nation, he said, “but we cannot put people’s lives in danger.”

As long as Europe was not going to help in the stabilisation of Africa, the flow of migrants was not going to stop, said the PN leader, adding that Malta's reputation was "not helping" it in the European forum.