'PN should sort out its party finances' - Labour

The Labour Party said that the PN needed to resolve its financial problems, but not with the help of the general public. In a statement issued this afternoon, it suggested that the Nationalist Party was attempting to shirk responsibility for its financial state. “Simon Busuttil is trying to solve the financial problems which his party inherited from the previous administration by proposing that the party financing law is adapted in a way in which the state finances it.”

Yesterday, the Nationalist Party called on government to look into the possibility of introducing state financing for all political parties before the law on party financing is presented in Parliament. However, government said the draft law on party finance cannot be delayed any further and state funding should be discussed in a few years' time.

The PL have now said that the party financing law was based on the concept that political parties regularise their finances. Therefore, the party said, before any law can be passed, the PN needed to do exactly that in the spirit of transparency and accountability.

“It should also be pointed out that the same Opposition which today is proposing this law, never did so,” the statement issued. “Rather, it kept on dragging its feet one legislature after the next.”

The party said that public money should be invested wisely to continue to create wealth and increase jobs for Maltese and Gozitan workers and not to help political parties to solve its financial problems.