PL candidate says private health insurance system makes free healthcare more sustainable

In an interview with weekly newspaper Illum, Labour candidate Adrian Meli explains why, despite coming from a Nationalist family, he is today contesting the upcoming general election on the Labour Party ticket.

He explains that post-2008 election, he felt that the PN started "going downhill" and says he became increasingly aware of a growing gulf between what the party promised in the run up to the election, and what it was later delivering.

Meli says that this, as well as Labour Leader Joseph Muscat's willingness to listen to his feedback and concerns, were what would later on convince him to not only support the Labour party, but contest the general election on its ticket.

Meli, a pharmacist by profession, also argues that the health service should remain free, despite the burden it places on government coffers.

However while he explains that he believes that there are several ways that government can limit and contain this expenditure, the Labour candidate says that such an expenditure can only be contained so far.

He points to Malta's growing population, and the ever-increasing price of medication. He says, these are the factors that will keep driving up Malta's expenditure on the free health care system. Melia says the introduction of a private health insurance system would solve many problems.

Asked to comment about Anglu Farrugia's resignation from the Labour ranks, Meli is cautious, insisting that media reports claiming that Muscat has been long-awaiting an excuse to drop Farrugia, or that Jason Micallef was somehow involved, as "speculation and spin."

Asked whether he thinks that Farrugia's highly-criticised performance on Xarabank just days before Muscat requested his resignation was a determining factor, Meli is tightlipped, insisting only that Muscat has made it clear that "everyone is responsible for their actions."

Meli argues that Farrugia's resignation shows that Labour is committed to ensuring accountability, being willing to hold accountable even individuals in its top levels to set an example.

The Labour candidate also tells Illum that, were he to find himself at odds with his party in the event that he is elected to Parliament, he would resign before voting against his party.

At the same time, Meli says that he "feels sorry for what Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi" had to face, referring to the months-long saga between the PN and Franco Debono which culminated in Debono's vote against the budget which brought down government.

"[Gonzi] deserves respect for having gone on for as long as he did despite the odds, even if It was to the detriment of the whole country and Maltese politics," Meli remarks.

Read the full interview in Sunday's issue of Illum.