'The criminals and the rich have Abela's backing but the little guy only has PN' - Bernard Grech

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said that Robert Abela’s government was only there to protect the criminal and the rich, while the little guy could only rely on the Nationalist Party.

During a political activity at the PN headquarters in Pieta’ on Sunday morning, Grech opened with a joke about an extra couple of minutes that Ivan J. Bartolo used during his speech.

“A stolen extra couple of minutes is nothing compared to the hundreds of millions that others stole from the taxpayer.”

Grech commemorated the upcoming twenty-year anniversary of Malta’s EU membership, praising former Prime Minister and PN leader Eddie Fenech Adami for his vision, which he said the Maltese keep bearing the fruits of.

He slammed the PL government for “bankrupting” Air Malta in reference to reports that the national airline will be dissolved after summer.

Last March MaltaToday reported that the government was planning to set up an alternative national airline that could be set to replace Air Malta, as hopes that the European Commission would grant further aid to the airline were minimal.

Grech said that the Prime Minister abandoned the workers and was taking people for a ride, with the airline advertising new jobs.

“This is the national airline of our country, your country. They destroyed it because they had no plan except for that to continue pocketing millions,” Grech said.

He warned that if Air Malta did not survive, the Maltese, the tourism industry and many ancillary services would suffer.

“Robert Abela is weak and shies away from decisions,” Grech said. He criticised the PM for the stern telling-off to the magistrate over delays in the Jean Paul Sofia inquiry and for the letter he sent to the Chief Justice over the same matter.

He reiterated the party’s calls for a public inquiry over the death of the 20-year-old. Jean Paul Sofia was killed in a construction site accident in December 2022 when a three-storey building he was working at collapsed during construction works.

“You are there for the criminals and those in cahoots with you. You are daily betraying workers, pensioners, students, women who suffer domestic violence, those requiring help, and those in need of quality jobs,” Grech said.

“If you are a criminal, rich or powerful, you have Robert Abela’s backing but if you are the little guy, you only have the Nationalist party,” Grech said.

He slammed the Prime Minister for the prosecution of author Mark Camilleri for the leaked chats between Yorgen Fenech and Rosianne Cutajar and for the arrest of four students for highlighting a security flaw in FreeHour’s backend system.

He said that Robert Abela’s government has no direction, comparing it to the Fgura road that went viral for leading to nowhere as all exits were one-way streets.

Grech said that the Nationalist Party has concrete plans for the economy, environment, healthcare, justice, tourism, and education.

“There’s one plan we don’t have – that of corruption,” Grech said.