Bernard Grech: A government funding a selected few instead of helping you

The Nationalist Party in government will focus on helping everyone attain dignity and a higher standard of living, rather than using assistance as a political bargaining tool, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Monday.

“The Labour Government finances a small group of people instead of helping you. We are not like that,” Grech told party supporters in Birkirkara.

Grech drew a clear distinction between the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party, saying that the PN wants to tackle the current state of living.

He stressed that the Maltese people deserved an improved quality of life, a sentiment that resonated with the party's commitment to safeguarding life from its inception to its conclusion.

"We find ourselves in one crisis after another, one scandal after the next, creating an atmosphere of insecurity and uncertainty. What we need is a comprehensive and immediate plan," Grech said.

Grech also outlined the PN's future agenda, which included measures to reduce court delays and significant investments in key sectors such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

PN remembers the tragedies of Black Monday, 44 years ago

Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech joined Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg in remembering the tragedies of Black Monday, 44 years ago.

“When we are attacked, and they try to silence us, it is because they recognize that we are a force that, once stronger, could trump them," Grech said, opening his speech.

On October 15, 1979, a group of thugs burned down the Times of Malta building in Belt Valletta. They then ransacked the home of the then Opposition leader, Eddie Fenech Adami, in Birkirkara. The group also attacked the Valletta and Floriana PN clubs.

PN MP Claudette Buttigieg said that despite the attempt by a "PL supporter" to silence the journalists at the Times of Malta in 1979, the newspaper found comfort in the PN. She said that following the events of that day, the country got back on its feet stronger and more determined, with the PN and its activists being the protagonists of that movement.

Both MPs also remembered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who, on October 16, six years ago, was assassinated. Happening on a Monday, the day also became known as Black Monday.

"It is another day I will never forget: one of us Maltese - a sister - was killed in a mafia-style manner. Caruana Galizia, murdered in an explosion, was a mother, daughter, and sister whose weapon was the pen,” Buttigieg said.

“Those who forget history are destined to relive it. It is our obligation to remember our ugly history and to do our utmost not to relive it. We did not just live this ugly history 44 years ago, but several times, including six years ago when Caruana Galizia was assassinated," Grech added.