‘Muscat used interconnector inauguration to divide the country’ – Busuttil

Opposition leader praises dawn of Malta's 'physical connection to Europe', says the PN is capable of closing the gap on the PL in the local council elections

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of using this evening’s inauguration of the interconnector to divide the country further.

“Muscat could have invited the Opposition to the inauguration and unite the country on a national level on the occasion of Malta’s physical connection to Europe,” Busuttil said at a political activity aired on NET TV. “Everybody knows that the project was planned and commenced by the previous Nationalist administration.

“However, the most important thing is that the interconnector project is finally completed and that Malta is now physically connected to Europe on an energy level, meaning that we can now buy electricity from Europe at a more competitive, flexible, and cheaper rate.”

During the inauguration, Muscat praised former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi, who was present at the inauguration, for his "vision to start and commit to this project".
"He made an ambitious decision that had faced resistance from various quarters who refused to think outside the box," Muscat said.

Busuttil said that the Opposition have sent out clear message that they are capable of making a difference in people’s lives, both on a national and a local level.

He said that the Opposition had forced Muscat to make a U-turn on his plan to cancel this round of local council elections, and reduce fuel prices three times since January. He also pointed out that the PN had exposed last January’s ‘Malliagate’ shooting incident involving the driver of former Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia, and that it recently published contracts involving the sale of land to Enemalta that the government had kept hidden.

“The site of the Marsa power station could have been handed over to the public once the power station was shut down, but it was secretly handed over to Enemalta instead,” Busuttil said. “Several bits of land that never belonged to Enemalta were secretly passed over to it as well.”

He reiterated that he wants to build his style of politics on honesty, accountability, political responsibility, transparency, and meritocracy.

“Labour were elected to government on those promises, and they have failed to stick by them,” Busuttil said.  “Even if, for argument’s sake, the previous administration had made mistakes, the current government should improve on those mistakes and not make worse ones.”

He said that the PN will not win this round of local council elections.

“We only have a majority in 14 of the 34 local councils that are up for re-election,” Busuttil said. “The last time this round of elections was held, the PN won 40% of the seats, while the PL won 57% of them. We obviously won’t win the majority of seats, but we can start closing the gap and prove that we have started running a marathon.”