Prime Minister Robert Abela is focused on buying off people’s silence with taxpayers’ money rather than addressing the country’s issues, PN leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday.

Grech was reacting to the resignation of Labour Party CEO Randolph De Battista and his appointment as Malta’s ambassador to Geneva. 

“We have a prime minister who instead of focusing on the needs of this country, is more focused on musical chairs to keep everyone happy and quiet,” Grech said. 

The PN leader was speaking at a telephone interview on NET FM. 

De Battista has no experience in the diplomatic field, Grech said,  and Abela was using taxpayers’ money to keep him quiet.

“Imagine you have a family member who is in diplomacy, imagine how many years spent studying and working, and Randolph comes along and becomes ambassador just like that,” he said. 

 “Abela is not focused on the country, and the effects are being felt by the people and the country, where the quality of life is deteriorating. Abela is failing the people, and the government is being led by a weak and divisive prime minister,” he said.

Byron Camilleri silent in the face of the ID card scandal

In the same interview, Grech once again called for the resignation of Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri over the ID cards “racket” unveiled by former PN MP Jason Azzopardi. 

“I am worried not only because these are serious allegations, but also because we have a minister who is absent and silent on the matter,” Grech said. 

Last week Azzopardi filed a lengthy court application calling for an urgent magisterial inquiry into what appears to be a large-scale identity fraud racket. 

He claimed that some 18,000 Maltese ID cards were issued on the back of documents falsified by Identita' officials. 

“A week has passed, and there has been no sign of the minister. He has failed to say how the issue is being tackled, or to assure people that there is no fraud on their identity cards.”

He said Camilleri’s silence could also mean he is hiding something from the public. 

“We cannot have confidence in Camilleri to lead such a sensitive and important ministry,” he said. 

He said the Labour Party has failed the country not just regarding home affairs, but also in terms of the infrastructure and the health service, but also basic infrastructural services including, drainage and electricity.

“Labour has become a millstone for the country,” Grech said.