The government is protecting corruption instead of fighting it, Grech says at Independence meeting

Instead of fighting corruption, the Labour government is creating and protecting it, Nationalist Party Leader Bernard Grech said as he delivered a speech during the PN’s Malta Independence Day celebrations.

As Grech spoke, he remarked that “this is not the Malta and Gozo you used to recognise”, and said that there is one thing above all which causes this to be the case. That one thing, he said, is corruption.

“Corruption has become part of this government’s political system,” he commented. He continued that the government has “lost its spine” and that people are no longer shocked when news of corruption or theft comes around and made reference to the €400 million of the hospitals deal.

The Opposition Leader commented that Prime Minister Robert Abela is unable to conduct genuine politics. Grech said that when those at the top create or defend corruption with all they can, then they also expect those below them to do the same, and the process keeps trickling down the ladder. He remarked that this government is no longer a true government.

“Instead of leading the country, the Prime Minister is lost combatting the waves in his own party.”

Speaking about upcoming elections, he said that when the hour arrives for people’s futures to be decided, their vote will be cast with the decision to have a new government which they deserve and which will lead Malta and Gozo as promised. He said that the current government has left the country with a health system that cannot keep up with the needs of the people, and with an electrical system which fails and is then blamed on the heat.

“Who suffers from this? The people suffer… not just the blue or the red, but even you who do not vote, you are also suffering like the rest of the people under this government.”

Grech said that he believes that supports of the PN and the PL, as well as those of other political affiliations, “all love their country and their families”. Having said this, he continued that regardless of who someone has voted for in the past, as well as if they have never voted, he poses the question of whether such people are comfortable with the way the country is being led. “Is this the Malta you want to live in?”

The PN Leader remarked that Malta seems to have become a “permanent construction site”.

He said that the PN looks forward for infrastructure which can support sustainable economic development, and that it looks forward for a better quality of life. He remarked that the PN works on a long-term plan, and not a plan based around electoral cycles. “We do not sacrifice your wellbeing for money, we invest money for your wellbeing.”

“This government has become the problem, not the solution,” he commented. Grech continued that in the coming two years, “This government will do everything it can to try to alienate you and hide the realities you are living in.”

Speaking on Malta’s independence, Grech said that independence was a historic and unprecedented moment which can never be replicated. He thanked George Borg Olivier and described him as a political visionary who created an independent Malta 60 years ago.

Grech also spoke of Karl Gouder, and said that he must again thank him. “It now falls upon our shoulders to continue his work.” Grech said that Gouder believed in a just and clean Malta of opportunities.

Michael Piccinino, the PN General Secretary who recently declared that he will be stepping down from the position as he intends on contesting the general election, said that he looks back on the work that has been done by the PN across the past three years with a sense of pride.

“These past years, a lot of work has been done. Often by many people behind the scenes and without fanfare, so that we would be able to plant a new seed of hope within the Maltese people, hope that tomorrow could be better than today, and that the PN could be the new page that our country needs so much.”

Piccinino said that the PN managed to achieve its greatest number of votes since the beginning of European Parliament elections in the country, and added that new majorities and mayors were achieved in localities during the local council elections.

He remarked that this was done when many others thought it would be impossible, and said that one of the people who believed and worked to make such feats possible was Karl Gouder. “We promise you that we will finish what we started together,” Piccinino said.

He said that the next two and a half years will be a crucial time for the country. He continued that the country’s future will be determined in that time, and that the PN has begun a process of consultation with its social partners and all those interests so that the country’s future could be discussed.

“I invite you all to ask yourselves two questions. What can I do to help my country move forward? What can I do to help the Nationalist Party truly be the change that our country needs?”

Piccinino commented that the country can only move forward with the contribution and involvement of the people. “I am convinced that we will arrive, and I am convinced that under Grech’s leadership, we will have a Nationalist government based on inclusion, sustainability, and innovation.”

PN Deputy Leader Alex Perici Calascione remarked that the Malta and Gozo of today are not the same that George Borg Olivier worked for, and continued that independence must be defended just as much as it is celebrated.