Prime Minister Robert Abela tried to be populist when he decided to keep migrants onboard tourist boats offshore but had failed, endangering people’s lives in the process, PN leader Adrian Delia said on Sunday. 

Speaking on Nationalist Party media, the Opposition leader said that Abela “chose to endanger lives to play a card and take a position which he believed to be populist,” but failed. 

The PN leader was reacting to the decision to allow some 425 migrants who were being held offshore on four tourist boats to disembark on Saturday night.

According to Abela, those onboard one of the government-chartered boats occupied the kitchen, grabbed knives and threatened to blow up a gas cylinder and burn rubbish. 

The migrants then gave the authorities 30 minutes to act and if not, they threatened to kidnap the crew, the Prime Minister said. 

Delia went on to criticise what he said is a lack of decisiveness by the government on matters of great importance.   

The Opposition leader said people did not know what to expect to come out of Monday’s mini-budget, as the government had been giving conflicting information. 

“The sense of uncertainty brought about by the pandemic has been made worse by the government’s lack of decisiveness,” Delia said.

Meanwhile, he again reiterated calls for an end to “tribal politics”, saying the people deserved better. 

“When I look at my adversaries, I see their argument. I do not want to attack them like they are enemies. The people want to live a tranquil and normal life. This is humanity. 

“When you say that you want to lead better, you do not attack the person but the argument. When people attack a person, that means they have no argument left. If we manage to debate ideas instead of the individuals, it is the people who will benefit,” Delia said. 

His comments come a day after the Opposition leader invited the Prime Minister to sit down for a coffee in Valletta after Sette Giugno celebrations. Abela, together with other Labour MPs accepted Delia’s invitation.