Opposition leader Adrian Delia on Sunday accused Prime Minister Robert Abela of undermining the “serious work” done by his former leadership rival Chris Fearne in battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reacting to Abela’s announcement that restaurants and hairdressers will soon be re-opening, Delia acknowledged that Fearne had achieved good results in Malta’s battle against COVID-19.
These results now risked being undone because of the infighting between Abela and the Health Minister, Delia said during an interview on the PN’s media outlet.
Delia questioned how the government had now ditched plans to build a pre-fabricated hospital, despite it being portrayed as vital in the COVID-19 battle just weeks ago.
He also criticised Abela for announcing the easing of further COVID-19 restrictions without the necessary public health infrastructure being put in place.
“We just got rid of the most corrupt prime minister we ever had, now we have the most unprepared, immature prime minister ever”, Delia said.
Delia said the PN was listening to the needs of the business community, particularly small business owners.
The Opposition leader said it was clear the government had no plan when it came to the economy, as it was just reacting selectively to events.
Delia said Malta’s economy needed to be ready to compete once the pandemic had been beaten.
This should be done by turning it into a knowledge-based hub that attracted serious investment.
Delia said the government needs a plan for Malta’s infrastructure, instead of just building more “roads to nowhere”.
He said construction should be managed in a way that protected the country’s heritage whilst identifying modern hubs for development.
On constitutional reform, Delia criticised the government “for not even informing the President” at plans it put forward in response to rule of law weaknesses identified by experts sitting on the Venice Commission.
He said the Opposition would be putting its own proposals out there for public consultation.
Delia said the Constitution must be a document that everyone identifies with, and also one that protects people from its own government.