Government has become characterised by fraud, PN Leader Bernard Grech says

The government has become characterised by fraud, PN Leader Bernard Grech said during a political activity on Sunday.The Opposition leader condemned the leadership and governance of Prime Minister Robert Abela.Grech remarked that this week, Abela dis

By: independent.com.mt

Nov 24 2024
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Government has become characte

The government has become characterised by fraud, PN Leader Bernard Grech said during a political activity on Sunday.

The Opposition leader condemned the leadership and governance of Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Grech remarked that this week, Abela displayed having two weights, two measures; while former AWAS CEO Joseph Baldacchino was taken to court and found guilty for embezzling public funds, ministers Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri "are being protected by Robert Abela for abusing public funds."

Referencing Amanda Muscat's consultancy scandal, Grech highlighted how two cabinet members - Justice Minister Jonathan Attard and Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul - endorsed the Standards Commissioner's report, meaning that these two also agreed with the conclusions.

The PN Leader stated that Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri should be dismissed, and it should be the Prime Minister who fires them. He warned Abela not to appease his conscience by asking the Minister's partner to return €20,000. The two Ministers should return the full €70,000 and be dismissed because their actions are unworthy of ministers, he said.

On the case of the former CEO of the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS), the PN Leader listed the abuses for which he was found guilty in Court: paying for a personal meal, hiring a public agency employee to clean his personal boat for three days during work hours, etc.

The PN Leader said that wherever you look, you see nothing but abuses and fraud, one story after another - fraud involving identity cards, social benefits abuse, etc.

Grech also spoke about the deficiencies of Malta's public transport system and high traffic congestion, Grech said that more people are going to the Nationalist Party for solutions - which in his eyes, means that the government is losing people's trust.

"The more people don't go to government for this issue, the more people share that they have lost faith in this administration to address this problem," he said.

He ascertained that the PN must "do things differently" and that "having political will isn't enough."

The Opposition leader said that government's attitude has gone as far as rejecting PN's proposals to reduce income tax for parents who are raising children, since the government "prefers to finance its own theft and the theft of its pals." Similarly, Grech said that proposed pension increases were also not taken up because the government "would rather help Clayton Bartolo, Rosianne Cutajar, Amanda Muscat, etc., over our elderly."

Grech also expressed his disdain in the way the government has handled the pedestrianisation of the Mosta square. He argued that authorities should have not come to this decision before carrying out studies and finding alternatives to retain the locality's accessibility in this "showing off of power" by PM Abela over Mosta residents.

Grech called attention to the situation at MCAST. The Opposition leader called out Prime Minister Robert Abela, asking why he is choosing to save money through educators of all people, and advising him to end this dispute and "invest in our students."

Grech also said that the wants to reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% as a means to promote local businesses. In order to further boost local businesses' competitiveness, he also proposed that the first €500,000 be taxed at a rate of 15%.

This proposal was mentioned by Grech after he listened to the interventions of two guest speakers: Beppe Muscat from the Chamber of SMEs and John Ebejer, who is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta within FEMA's Department of Tourism Management.

Muscat commented that 78% of all jobs within Malta's private sector are employments with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and that, as of late, local businesses have been complaining about unfair competition "more than ever."

Grech called to boost their liquidity by decreasing the corporate tax rate to 25%, and to just 15% for the first €500,000 after reiterating that most local SMEs are comprised of a handful of people, such as family businesses where both parents, possibly their children, and a couple of other people are working. He also said that in these cases, it is sometimes normal for certain people not to receive a reasonable pay.

The PN leader said that this change would improve local businesses' competitiveness and give them more freedom in investment.

"This would boost investment - more investment in creativity, skills, and innovation - that's how we believe we can move forward," Grech said.

During his intervention, Grech clarified that the effective corporate tax rate of 5% for foreign businesses present locally was introduced by past PN administrations, and "was a good way to attract foreign investment into our country." He said that Malta should continue attracting foreign investors but called for more "seriousness" in this regard, stating that foreign investors must be serious and abide by regulations, rather than come to our country, "pig out," and leave with Maltese and Gozitan money.

While describing the vulnerability of SMEs, the Opposition leader recounted a story told him by a company of two people that was looking to close its doors. He narrated that apart from all the red tape required in closing a business, and despite them having all their papers in order, the duo was being charged €20,000 to wind up their company, and had been advised to declare themselves as bankrupt, "as it would be cheaper that way."

Grech said that while such situations are happening around, "others are allowed to steal €400 million from everyone," referencing the hospitals concession situation.

Dr. Ebejer had discussed Malta's "inadequate" public transport, describing how this has detrimental effects on quality of life and tourism. "Public transport in Malta is not suitable for what is expected out of a modern European state," Dr. Ebejer said.

The University Senior Lecturer said that it would be good to have more bus shelters and improve the efficiency of public transport for the short-term, however, he believes that Malta's long-term public transport vision should reside in investing in an efficient tram system for various reasons including the simplest being that trams can fit more people than buses can.

PL statement

In reaction, the Labour Party said: "On fraud, all the Nationalist Party needs to do is look at its own leader, who spent many years not paying taxes, against the law. Similarly, the Nationalist Party is breaking the party financing law today by failing to even declare what it earns from donations."