‘Public trust in Muscat has evaporated for good’ – Busuttil

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has urged Labour MPs to vote against Joseph Muscat in an upcoming vote of no confidence, warning that public trust in the Prime Minister has gone for good.

“Once public trust has been lost, it can never be truly regained,” Busuttil said in an interview with Frank Psaila on Newsfeed. “Muscat should have sacked [energy and health minister] Konrad Mizzi and [OPM chief of staff] Keith Schembri when the Panamagate scandal first broke seven weeks ago. Mizzi and Schembri have now become almost irrelevant, as it is already far too obvious that they should have resigned a long time ago, and the public’s anger and disgust has turned to Muscat.

Indeed, he said that a PN-organised protest against corruption will go ahead as scheduled on Sunday, even if Muscat sacks Konrad Mizzi, arguing that the Prime Minister is collectively responsible for his ministers. 

Busuttil insisted that the PN are not calling for an early election, only to get rid of Joseph Muscat.

“When you look at the numbers, Muscat enjoys a significant parliamentary majority, but that doesn’t mean that the Opposition should shut its mouth while the world watches on. We have forced a parliamentary debate because we want to show the world that not every politician in Malta is dirty. I urge Labour MPs to reflect and think hard on whether the country can go on for two more years in such uncertainty.”

He warned that employees in the financial services and gaming sectors industries are particularly furious at Muscat, arguing that revelations of Mizzi’s and Schembri’s offshore interests have weakened Malta’s hand in defending its tax jurisdiction.

“The legitimacy of these professionals has been cast in doubt, as foreigners are now questioning why they have allowed a minister with a secret company in Panama to remain in power,” he said. “Instead of observing the national interest, Muscat has chosen to defend his personal and political interests.”

The PN leader encouraged people from all walks of life to attend Sunday’s demonstration against corruption in Valletta, insisting that it will be a national protest and not a Nationalist one.

Indeed, he said that people from outside the party will get to address the crowds this time around – unlike in the original protest when he was the sole spokesperson. 

The PN has called on Mizzi and Schembri to resign from their political posts, ever since they were revealed to own offshore companies in Panama. However, the party has in recent days increasingly shifted the onus of responsbility onto the Prime Minister. Besides the Sunday protest and the no confidence motion, the PN today launched an online petition that calls on Muscat to resign as Prime Minister.