Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning that Labour needed to understand those who genuinely asked questions and who felt disappointed by recent developments, but the government had nothing to be ashamed of.

This government's ministers had not taken €500 a week, he said while speaking in Gozo, amid the Panama trust scandal which prompted a protest in Valletta this afternoon.

He asked whether the government should be ashamed for boosting the economy, creating record employment, saving Enemalta, reducing water and electricity tariffs, closing Marsa power station, reducing hospital waiting times, solving the medicines out-of-stock problem, increasing tourism, boosting the film industry, introducing co-ed in state schools or reducing income tax for three years in succession.

"Should it be ashamed for giving €5,000 to first-time buyers, refunding VAT paid on car registration, introducing in-work benefits, introducing free childcare, fighting benefit abuse, improving maternity leave, increasing benefits for the elderly and those with disability, fighting precarious work, introduced gender identity legislation and civil unions, returning Gozo Channel to profitability and restoring public finances?

"Should it be ashamed for removed prescription on claims of irregularities by politicians, for introduced the whistleblower law, for introducing the citizenship programme which was bringing wealth to the country, for introducing trade union rights for disciplined forces, for solving the immigration problem, for reducing poverty, for introducing the youth work guarantee, for giving stipends for repeaters, for increasing stipends, for attracting the American university investment or the medical school in Gozo? Should it be ashamed for the investment in St Luke's and the new Gozo hospital?"

Dr Muscat said that rather than be ashamed, he was proud of his united team that was delivering and would continue to bring about results.

In two-and-a-half years, at election time, the list would be even longer, he said to applause.  

The leader of the opposition had a right to hold a protest against corruption and it was everyone's right to participate, he said. He wished them well, Dr Muscat said.

But ironically, Dr Busuttil was holding a PN mass meeting against himself, because he had been part of the most corrupt government Malta ever saw.

Nonetheless, to say that somebody else was guilty of wrongdoing was not an excuse for one to do wrong himself.

The people always expected the best. 

"We have to learn from the mistakes and to correct them, as well as anticipate them," Dr Muscat said. 

We need to understand those who genuinely ask questions and who have felt disappointed

"We need to understand those who genuinely asked questions and who have felt disappointed... We need to be humble enough to understand when we could have done things differently," Dr Muscat said.

However the hypocrisy he had seen in the past few days was incredible, he added.

This included PN official Ann Fenech, who was involved in Panamanian companies and her company said on its website that it could assist in the opening of such companies. This was symptomatic of the lack of credibility surrounding Simon Busuttil. 

Dr Fenech and her company had taken €2m in government contracts, mostly through direct orders. That she said in her defence that the company also got contracts from the present government only showed how wrong it was to claim favouritism. 

Dr Muscat referred to the PN's criticism of visas given to Algerians and said the European Commission had cleared the government of doing anything wrong. So would the PN now accuse the Commission of being corrupt?

In his speech, Dr Muscat said he was serene about the government's performance mid-way through the legislature. True, mistakes had been made, but this was a government which was prepared to admit its mistakes and change.

He said the government would continue to work hard but serenely and with a positive attitude. It would not be provoked and it should also work harder to give justice to those people who felt it had been denied them.