Prime Minister has full faith in Miriam Dalli, despite calls for resignations
Abela said 'unprecedented investments' have been made to improve the power grid
Prime Minister Robert Abela on Monday said he has faith in Energy Minister Miriam Dalli, despite calls for her resignation following days of widespread power outages.
Speaking to journalists following a Malta Chamber of Commerce conference, Abela said Dalli started a “robust” process to improve the country’s electric distribution, which no other previous administration has ever done before. He said he is confident the process will continue to accelerate and improve the power distribution.
“I have faith in the synergy between private entities and Enemalta, all Enemalta workers and technicians, and also I have faith in Minister Miriam Dalli,” Abela told journalists.
His comment comes after the Nationalist Party reiterated calls for Dalli to resign and tabled a parliamentary motion of no confidence in Dalli, describing the summer outages as a repeat of the crisis of 2023.
Over the past days, residents and businesses across the island suffered from power outages as sweltering temperatures placed heavy pressure on Malta’s electricity distribution.
Abela went on to describe the "unprecedented investments" Dalli has made during her time as Energy Minister and that she has a clear plan on how to continue investing and improving the power grid.
He went on to mention the investments and works carried out over the past years, including replacing hundreds of kilometres of cables, strengthening substations and improving distribution centres.
During his comments, Abela continuously thanked Enemalta workers for all their dedication and work over the past few days.
"We have strengthened the resilience, but clearly more needs to be done. What we have experienced in the past few days is unacceptable, and the public and businesses have no fault in this."
Abela mentioned that as of Sunday, the electricity grid has stabilised.
When asked if he is confident that the country would not experience further power cuts during the summer, Abela said that, compared to previous years, the grid is more resilient, but more work must be done to ensure it can keep up with the rate of the country's growth.