Bernard Grech accused the government of ignoring people’s concerns on the rising cost of living, saying it was yet another certificate of incompetence of a Labour Party that had riddled the country with corruption. 

Speaking in parliament, in his reaction to Budget 2024 the Opposition leader laid out his party's vision for a PN government, saying the country deserved better after a “disturbing transformation” during the past 10 years and eight months. 

“(A government) which departed from humility, showed a lack of respect for principles of good governance and failed to respect the values of the Maltese and Gozitans,” he said. 

During his two-hour speech, accompanied by support from the PN benches, Grech urged people to understand that things can change for the positive. 

His speech often steered away from the financial projections made in the budget and instead focused on his vision for an alternative government, free of corruption and nepotism. 

Grech criticised the PL government's “negative” changes during the past decade, including the way the party had tarnished the country’s reputation while focusing on the “excessive” population growth that negatively impacted people’s quality of life. 

“Do you know what Labour's biggest crisis is? It corrupted minds. What we normally consider as 'bad' is nowadays perceived as 'good' and we attack what is good, making it seem as though it's bad. For the government, the good is theft, bribery, deception, forgery and fraud. This is Labour’s greatest crisis.”

Grech said the government had promised to introduce a “culture of resignations” to hold those responsible for scandals.

“Instead, today we see a number of ministers, in front of us, who were included in major scandals,” he said, highlighting, in particular, the Agriculture Minister’s heritage artefact in his garden, the drivers' racket scandal, and the disability racket scandal."

He said the budget did not tackle any of the problems the population was facing, especially the rising cost of living, the spiralling population numbers, traffic issues or lack of green spaces.

The cost-of-living crisis

Grech said the government had failed to address the rising cost of living, and thousands of people were struggling to make ends meet by the end of the month.

Young couples relied on their parents to keep up with their expenses, and the elderly continued to face discrimination at the rising cost of medicines. 

Grech said the country’s inflation was now higher than the EU average, and Maltese families were left facing the burden of increasing costs.

“The government does not want to address the challenges it is creating,” he said.

Grech told parliament that even the PL's party’s own MEP, Alex Agius Saliba, had lost faith in Abela addressing the cost-of-living crisis.

“Agius Saliba noted that many Maltese go to Sicily to shop because they believe prices are more reasonable there. Life in Malta is 30% higher than in places like Sicily,” he said.

A fair Malta?

Grech criticised the budget slogan 'A Fair Malta', saying that the government had actually impacted the quality of life negatively and left many more people vulnerable. 

“Just last year we saw 86,500 vulnerable people receiving benefits from the cost-of-living cheques. This year we will see 95,000 families receiving such benefits,” he said.

Grech said the country's debt had continued to balloon to reach €10 billion under Abela's premiership.

“Finance Minister Clyde Caruana projected that the government would have incurred more debt than all previous finance ministers collectively since Malta gained independence,” he said.

“To all those listening to us, let that sink in. Ten billion. And to make matters worse, the government continues to borrow more and more, and pay from our taxes €4 million a week in interest. Imagine what you could do with those millions: invest in our children’s education, in our elderly’s health care, and relieve some of the cost-of-living burden,” he said.

He accused the Labour Party of squandering millions in pledges and reports that never come to fruition, from blockchain to metro projects. 

Moving on to the government’s economic model, Grech said the Labour Party steered Malta into a major crisis of overpopulation. 

For the past 10 years, the government’s economic plan was solely centred on rapid population growth, showing it lacked a proper vision for the country. 

And in the process of increasing population numbers, the government also helped to exploit thousands of third-country nationals. 

Grech addressing parliament on Monday.

PN’s vision for a better Malta

On the contrary, the PN’s vision for the country was one of “hope and courage”, integrity, transparency, and responsibility, he said. 

“Economic renewal is our second commitment: we will support an economic journey of transformation, an economic vision that values high-quality jobs over quantity,” he said, adding that Malta will no longer depend on foreign workers, but will invest in its own people and industries. 

“We are determined to safeguard democracy. Our democracy is a precious treasure, we have to protect it and we are not afraid to do this.”

He said a Nationalist government would prioritise Malta’s financial and economic sector and ensure that the voice of every citizen was listened to.

“This is our vision of Malta. As a party, we can provide courage, hope and promise, that alongside the Maltese, we can make a better life for our country.”