PN warns Muscat has 'failed his first test’ as Mizzi, Schembri re-appointed

The Nationalist Party has warned that Joseph Muscat has “failed his first test” since his re-election as Prime Minister, after he appointed Konrad Mizzi as tourism minister and re-appointed Keith Schembri as his chief of staff.

In a statement, the PN said that Muscat’s decision to maintain the two high-ranking officials who were implicated in the Panama Papers scandal last year proves that the Prime Minister “has learned nothing from the general election and is intent on divisive politics and not politics based on unity.”

“The decision also confirms that Schembri and Mizzi still control everything, including Muscat,” the PN said. “Muscat could have used his Cabinet appointments to send a message that he is ready to embark on a new style of politics, but he has instead chosen to be hard-headed and has failed his first test.”

The PN also criticised Muscat for bloating his Cabinet, appointing a team composed of 23 ministers and parliamentary secretaries.

“Despite the criticism at the exaggerated expense on his Cabinet in the previous legislature, Muscat has chosen to be hard-headed and increased the number of ministers and parliamentary secretaries. This means that taxpayers will have to fork out more money for the Cabinet.”

In a brief counter-response, the Labour Party said that the PN has chosen to “play the same broken record of negativity”, which it said was the cause behind its crushing defeat at last week’s election.

“The PN should understand that the public have rejected this style of politics in two successive elections.”