Regardless of the winner in the forthcoming Labour leadership race the country will have more of the same as neither of the two contestant are willing to change direction, the Opposition leader said on Saturday.
Adrian Delia levelled this criticism in a telephone interview broadcast on the Nationalist Party’s radio station in which he gave his evaluation of the Xarabank debate between Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne and MP Robert Abela who are vying to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
“Having a choice between these two contestants, his deputy and his legal advisor, who are both supporting him [Dr Muscat], is tantamount to saying nothing will change under the guise of wanting to ensure continuity,” Dr Delia said.
“Nothing will change, neither at party nor at country level,” he added.
The Opposition leader noted that during the leadership campaign, none of the contestants expressed their intention to investigate corruption and stop the downslide of Malta’s reputation.
“Dr Abela is pledging to retain the same cabinet, while Mr Fearne has no idea on how to handle issues on the rule of law and the separation of powers,” Dr Delia said.
“The country only needs continuity, in terms of the size of economic growth, rather than the model,” the Opposition leader said.
He also criticised the two leadership contestants saying they lacked long-term vision on infrastructure, population growth, poverty and the environment. Dr Delia said that their only concern was to ensure the Labour Party would remain in government at all costs.
In 2020, Malta must start ‘healing’
Looking ahead the Opposition leader said that 2020 should be the year when the country would start "healing" from the tumultuous events of recent months.
People must be more rigorous in their judgment rather than turn a blind eye or adopt a lenient attitude when faced by wrongdoing, he added. At the same time everybody must shoulder their responsibility, not just people in government but heads of institutions, Dr Delia said.
PN renewal and reforms
Asked about the state of the ongoing PN reform piloted by party stalwart Louis Galea, he insisted that this process had to be completed as soon as possible.
“The renewal must take place fast, as we are obliged to give the country a better PN to present itself as an alternative government. We must seek justice where we failed before and in a manner which would ensure that the country is governed in the correct manner,” Dr Delia said.
Moreover, the party should not shy away from apologising once again for past mistakes, make radical internal changes if necessary and engage more with those harbouring different views, he added.
However, the Opposition leader cautioned that statutory changes had to be accompanied by changes in attitude from the very top down to the grassroots.
“If we do this, 2020 could be the year of new politics so to that the country would never go back to the events experienced last year, he remarked.
PN sets carbon neutral target
On energy, Dr Delia said that a PN government would aim high in order to make Malta the first carbon neutral country in the world, by drastic cuts in emissions and boosting clean energy generation.
On the other hand he lashed out at the PL saying its 2013 campaign based on the reduction of tariffs and the construction of a new gas-fired power plant was a scam while accusing everybody involved in it as a “fraudster”. Moreover, Malta had not even reached the 10 per cent alternative energy target as these renewable sources only accounted to about 7 per cent, he noted.
“In energy, everything is anything but clean, ranging from pollution to corruption,” he said.