Health Minister and Labour leadership contender Chris Fearne dismissed his mockery of the Nationalist Party as “tongue-in-cheek” comments, insisting his first job as Prime Minister would be to unite the country.
Earlier in the week, Mr Fearne said the party in Opposition will not govern for as long as he is alive. In a politically-charged speech, the Labour leadership hopeful told a crowd that when he dies he wanted the phrase 'RIPN' on his tombstone and not RIP.
Fielding journalists’ questions on the comments on Thursday, Mr Fearne said people should not have been offended by his words because they were “tongue-in-cheek”.
“If anyone felt offended, I will apologise,” he said.
Asked by Times of Malta whether he regretted making such statements, especially in light of calls for national unity by the President, among others, Mr Fearne said he agreed but insisted the priorities of a Labour leader should also be to make sure the party was a strong one that wins elections.
When it was pointed out to him that, as Labour leader, he would also be prime minister, Mr Fearne iterated he would be making sure there is national unity.
A video of Mr Fearne making the comments was uploaded to Facebook on Monday and quickly drew criticism from PN MP and former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, among others.
“How on earth can Chris Fearne heal and unite our mortally wounded country with this sort of arrogant and divisive spiel? It's beginning to look like the more things change, the more they will stay the same,” Dr Busuttil tweeted.
Mr Fearne is one of two contesting the post of Labour leader and if elected he will be replacing outing Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
In recent weeks, the country continued to go through political turmoil amid the revelations emerging from the investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Thousands have taken to the streets in protest, demanding Dr Muscat resigns immediately and calling for justice.
This has in turn prompted President George Vella to repeatedly call for national unity, saying the entire nation had to make an effort in the new year to overcome the challenges that came to a head during the final months of 2019.