[WATCH] ‘Government must deliver what it promised‘ - Busuttil

Simon Busuttil on government energy plans • Video by Chris Mangion

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil criticised the probable delay in the construction of a new gas power station, insisting that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should honour his electoral promise of completing the new plant by March 2015.

“The governments main promise while in opposition was to build a new gas station that will lead to the reduction of water and electricity bills,” he said," adding that Muscat “should honour this promise.”

"A lot of people have called the PN to say that their electricity and water bills haven’t decreased," Busuttil said. 

"What interests me and the people is whether the government will do what it promised," Busuttil said in reply to whether delays in large projects under both this and previous administrations have resulted in people getting disillusioned with the political class.

"We know what happened in the past but we're looking at the present now. The Labour Party had criticised delays in projects when in opposition and it is now delaying on a number of projects while in government -the parliament building, the oncology department, the interconnector...the power station is the cherry on the cake."

"I am a man of action, not words. While the government knows how to talk, it does not know how to perform. When I speak about equality, I act on it," he said, pointing to the new PN policy fora chairpersons, six of which are women.

Among these chairpersons, Nationalist MEP Therese Comodini Cachia has been tasked by Busuttil to come up with a long-term vision for the party.

She is one of ten people who will be chairing the PN’s policy for a which have been set up to revise the party’s policies. The MEP will coordinate the work and was entrusted with produciung a final document outlining the party’s long-term vision.

“This is a very important milestone for the PN. These policy fora and experts will challenge the current perception of the PN and show that even in opposition, we are a party that is an workshop of new ideas, that looks to the future, not the past.”

He added that these policy fora will be open to public consultation from professionals and other people 

The 10 chairpersons are the following: Valerie Soler (education), Maria Cassar (health), Albert Bell (social renewal), Maria Attard (environment and agriculture), David Felice (culture and creativity), Rita Mifsud (Gozo), Ivan Bartolo (economy and employment), Joseph Giglio (home affairs), Vicky Ann Cremona (European affairs) and Therese Comodini Cachia (coordinator).