Borg to convene social partners over electricity crisis

Nationalist Party to convene the social partners represented on the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) to discuss the electricity crisis in the coming days, Party Leader Alex Borg has announced. 

He made the announcement during an interview on the NET FM programme Issues.

“These are not figures produced by the Opposition. This is the voice of businesses that are feeling the burden of the Government’s bad decisions every day,” Borg said.

Borg said Malta needs a clear change in economic direction, with a model that no longer measures success solely through growth figures, but by how productive businesses are, whether wages are keeping pace with the cost of living, and whether families are enjoying a better quality of life. 

He pointed to the latest SME Barometer as a serious warning to the Government, noting that almost four out of every five small and medium-sized businesses are either uncertain about investing or do not believe it would be wise to invest over the next 12 months, while 64% of SMEs say Malta is heading in the wrong direction.

He maintained that the Government cannot continue boasting about Gross Domestic Product growth while businesses face higher costs, bureaucracy, a shortage of adequately skilled workers, traffic, and infrastructure unable to cope with demand. 

The PN, he said, wants an economy based on productivity, innovation, and jobs that create greater value, rather than growth driven simply by a rising population and consumption.

On the electricity crisis, Borg said the Government is refusing serious scrutiny because it knows this would expose years of poor planning, insufficient investment, and misplaced priorities.

He said Enemalta workers are not responsible for the Government’s political failure and, on the contrary, are working in difficult conditions to repair faults and deserve support and appropriate compensation. Families and businesses affected by prolonged or repeated power cuts, he said, should receive compensation automatically, through a clear and transparent process.

“When a service fails, the consumer should be provided with a remedy. People cannot continue having to plead for compensation on a case-by-case basis,” Borg said.

He also criticised the Government for unilaterally closing Parliament for the summer to avoid debating the motion of no confidence in Minister Miriam Dalli, and for blocking scrutiny of the Auditor General’s report in the Public Accounts Committee. 

The planned MCESD meeting, he said, will address the energy crisis, the way forward, and the automatic compensation mechanism the Opposition is insisting should be introduced.

Borg said he would continue visiting localities and meeting residents, businesses, workers, local councils, and organisations directly, adding that politics is not conducted solely from an office, a press conference, or social media. “I do not want an Opposition that only appears in front of a camera. I want an Opposition that is present in communities, listens to people’s problems, and works on concrete solutions,” he said, adding that the Opposition’s work does not take a holiday while people’s problems persist.

On the Bill establishing the National Commission for Human Rights and Equality, Borg reiterated that the Nationalist Party agrees with the principle of a strong, independent, and credible commission, but said that precisely because of the importance of this legislation, the Government should have held genuine consultations with the Opposition, NGOs, and civil society.

“A law on human rights cannot be drafted through a process that ignores the voices of those who work in this field every day,” he said, adding that the Nationalist Party is ready to return to the negotiating table immediately so that better legislation can be approved with broad consensus, following genuine consultation.

Asked about the trial currently taking place in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and whether criticism that the Opposition has not commented on the evidence emerging in court is justified, Borg replied that the Opposition does not want to interfere with or prejudice the trial in any way. “Any comment, whether excessive or insufficient, could cause harm. I therefore felt that political maturity required us to take a step back while continuing to follow proceedings closely,” he said.

He said he had appointed a team of experts advising him daily on the basis of the facts emerging in court, and that the Opposition will comment and ensure the necessary steps are taken at the appropriate time.

Borg concluded by saying he has absolute confidence in the justice system, and that although the country has waited a long time for justice to take its course, the Nationalist Party remains confident that justice will ultimately be served, both for those responsible for the murder and for the journalist’s family.