Malta needs ministers focused on the issues, not distracted by the need to hide their own wrongdoing, Opposition leader Bernard Grech said on Wednesday.

He wrote on Facebook that with COVID-19 cases rising, people were wondering whether Prime Minister Robert Abela would be taking the right decisions, based on science. Would the prime minister buckle under the pressure as he faced the scandals which were undermining his Cabinet and parliamentary group?

Was Health Minister Chris Fearne able to lead the health sector, or had he lost credibility among health workers, whom he kept on a low pay while approving more millions of euro to Steward Healthcare?

Could economy minister Silvio Schembri be taken seriously by businesses, or would they blame him for endangering their Christmas by holding an activity that breached COVID-19 rules?

Would Finance Minister Clyde Caruana be able to support businesses, or was he running out of funds, having let ministers spend €1 billion more than projected, mostly on corrupt contracts and direct orders?

Could Education Minister Justyne Caruana and permanent secretary Frank Fabri plan the secure reopening of schools when they were busy hiding their actions (in the Daniel Bogdanovic case) and fighting to keep their place avoiding a police investigation?

Grech said Malta needed ministers who could focus on the issues facing the country. Malta needed honest people able to take decisions on the basis of information that was transparent, not people bent on hiding their actions or on propaganda.