[WATCH] New PN secretary general says motion on Karol Aquilina akin to ‘what Labour did in the 80s’

The government motion condemning the Opposition is akin to what the Labour administration did in the 1980s, Nationalist Party Secretary General Charles Bonello said.  

“For me that motion was a flashback of what Labour did in the 80s. Maybe in a different way, but that is how Labour acted back then,” Bonello told MaltaToday. 

Sitting down for an interview just days after being confirmed PN secretary general, Bonello was asked about the Opposition’s walkout from parliament on Monday and Tuesday. 

The House was debating a government motion condemning MP Karol Aquilina’s behaviour but before proceedings even started, Opposition leader Bernard Grech labelled the motion “fascist” and ordered his MPs to abandon the chamber. 

Bonello insisted the motion was a “direct attack” on the country’s democracy and the highest institution. 

“Government is sending the message that when it is has the majority, it can bully the minority,” he said.  

Bonello defended the decision by PN MPs to abandon parliament, stating they did so to defend the country’s democracy. 

Questioned on reports by Labour media that the walkout was a compromise following disagreement within the PN’s parliamentary group on how to vote, Bonello said the Opposition should be judged on its actions. 

“All our MPs walked out of the House because the parliamentary group did not want to be part of that discussion, which was an attack on parliamentary democracy of this country,” he insisted. “Judge us by our actions.” 

The full interview with Charles Bonello will be published this Sunday on MaltaToday.