Updated | Labour challenges PN to publish their finances

Nationalist leader Simon Busuttil must publish his party’s finances if he wants the Maltese people to trust him one day, the Labour Party said in a statement.

“The only thing we know about the PN’s finances is that they’re in a bad state and that some people had given them a loan without any interest,” the PL said. “The same party who is speaking so much about party financing has never published its finances, like the Labour Party does every year.”

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said Joseph Muscat was more “fixated” with their financial position rather than with the country’s finances.

“On Sunday the Prime Minister dedicated a full hour to talk about the PN and yet again today,” the PN said.

The PN said that Muscat repeatedly chooses to attack others when he finds himself with his back against the wall. It said, Labour should be asking questions on the Delimara new power station and “the theft” of private property to accommodate their party clubs.

Insisting that Muscat was no longer credible, the PN said he should “realise he is no longer a journalist but a Prime Minister”.

If Busuttil wants to be credible, the least he could do is tell the people where the money they gathered to build their headquarters went to.”

PN secretary general Chris Said said last week that the Opposition was seeking amendments to the Party Financing Bill to ensure that no party enjoys an unfair financial advantage over the other. Said said that political parties should register all public lands in their possession and declare how much rent it had generated from these properties. He said that the Labour Party has a number of properties owned by the state or requisitioned from private owners. One example was Australia Hall, worth €10 million, he said.  But the Labour Party also had a string of party clubs it did not own. For example, the Rabat PL club had actually been built to serve as a community public library, but was then transferred to the PL.

Accusing the Labour Party of earning “thousands if not millions of euros,” from requisitioned land he said parties should receive a yearly compensation for the disadvantage they suffered over the years.

“We agree with the law in principle but if it is approved as it is it will not eliminate discrimination,” Said said. “If the government ploughs ahead and does not take our proposals on board we’ll take all legal measures to ensure that the discrimination against us comes to an end.”

In their statement, Labour accused the PN of dragging their feet over a party financing law when they were in government.

“Now Busuttil is trying to conceal the fact that he wants the people to pay for the financial mess that the Nationalist Party has found itself in,” the PL said.  “The difference between the party who doesn’t want their finances scrutinized and the party who wants more transparency when it comes to party financing has never been clearer.

“Busuttil has no credibility.”