Alex Borg says he has 'proof' OPM pressured NGOs to oppose PN environment bill
'I saw WhatsApp messages', opposition leader claims
Opposition leader Alex Borg has claimed he has “proof” that the Office of the Prime Minister contacted NGOs and "pressured them" to speak out against the PN’s private members’ bill to give the environment constitutional protection.
Speaking on TVM’s Xtra on Thursday evening, Borg said he was aware of “a number of telephone calls from high OPM officials to several NGOs” urging them to issue statements against the bill.
“I saw the WhatsApp messages,” he insisted, adding that NGOs were “threatened” to criticise the proposal.
Several sports federations, hobby groups, employers’ associations and legal experts had publicly opposed the PN bill, saying it would carry serious consequences for various sectors. The bill was ultimately rejected after Labour MPs announced that the government would instead publish a green paper introducing its own legal protections.
Borg also accused the OPM of using similar tactics with NGOs and Gozitan stakeholders in relation to the “Gozo towers” controversy.
During the same interview, Borg confirmed he will be donating his parliamentary salary increase to charity, reiterating that he will not accept the additional €1,500 allocated to him.
He again urged the government to withdraw the pay rise for MPs, saying he was not consulted on the decision.
He said changes to the politicians’ wage structure could only be justified once citizens’ financial challenges are properly addressed.
The refusal to accept the pay rise, he added, was not an “attack” on civil service employees who received salary increases under a €1.3 billion collective agreement signed in November 2024.
“The collective agreement shouldn’t be used so that the prime minister and his friends get a wage increase too,” Borg said.
He argued that the MP salary increase was disproportionate when compared to the €4.66 COLA adjustment granted in the last Budget.
“Are we, the politicians, feeling the cost of living that much more than the citizens?” he asked.