Robert Abela on Sunday completely ignored two surveys showing that the Labour Party was in freefall, choosing instead to focus on what his government has delivered so far.

During a 45-minute interview on the party’s ONE radio, the prime minister said he was “very sorry” for the extensive power cuts over the past few days, adding that the government was drawing up a compensation scheme to make up for the inconvenience.

“If I had to rate the past 16 months, I'd say we could have done better. However, we implemented many reforms. There are many electoral pledges that still need to be implemented.

"We cannot rest on our laurels and must bring about more change in the run-up to a budget that is socially fair and gives direction to the country,” he said.

A Times of Malta survey on Sunday revealed that PL would win an election by just under 18,000 votes if an election were to take place tomorrow, the slimmest lead the party has experienced in years.

The survey shows that PL has continued to shed voters, registering a decrease of 1.3% over the past four months and almost 5% since last year’s general election.

Meanwhile, PN has failed to gain any significant ground, only recording minimal gains since the last Times of Malta survey in March and increasing its share of the vote by less than 2% since the election.

According to a separate survey by MaltaToday, the PN has overtaken the Labour Party for the first time since 2008.

Abela opted to ignore these findings, focusing instead on his government’s achievements over the past months, including strengthening the electricity distribution network.

He blamed atmospheric heat for damage sustained by underground cables that caused nationwide power cuts.

“Enemalta mobilised all its resources to fix the problem and power has now been restored everywhere.

"Over the years, the government addressed the issue of generation through the power station, the interconnector and renewables. Energy generation is like the heart and distribution are the arteries. More work needs to be done on distribution because, with climate change, we will surely have a repeat of heatwaves so work on the distribution will continue,” he said.

He acknowledged that many people lost perishables. The government, he said, was working on a scheme - that is separate from Enemalta’s - for damage to appliances, that would compensate people for the inconvenience.

“It was a difficult week for those who ended up without electricity for several hours. I am very sorry about it. The situation seems to have been solved but the heatwave is hitting us hard. People are right to complain. If people invested to be comfortable at home, our work is to ensure that they are able to do so,” he added.

'Public inquiry will not impinge on magisterial inquiry now that it's been concluded'

Turning to the Jean Paul Sofia case, Abela said there will be developments in the coming hours, with the arraignment of people believed to have been responsible for the building collapse that killed the 20-year-old.

He said the magisterial inquiry was important because it was the one that would allow the police and the Attorney General to take court action.

Abela said the government’s position was always to wait for the outcome of the magisterial inquiry before any other form of investigation.

The public inquiry can go into things that the magisterial inquiry did not and will not impinge on the magisterial inquiry now that it has been concluded.

"I never wanted a conflict because I know how anything could negatively affect the court case," he said.

“In hindsight, we could have been more sensitive, but we wanted the evidence to be preserved. We wanted to explain the procedure. We were always after the truth and after justice. The opposition turned the matter into a political ball, not because they were after the truth. This case uncovered their political hypocrisy,” he said.

Abela said that aside from this case, the government will continue working on reform in the construction industry because it was "incomprehensible that you needed a licence to drive a motorcycle but not one to demolish and develop a building”.

He stressed the need for more enforcement, saying that the message will be clearer when people start facing licence suspensions and harsh punishments.

“Once there are disciplinary actions, certain punishments and other consequences, people will toe the line,” he said.

“We cannot take any more risks with people’s lives,” he said.

Legal Notice LN166/23, introduced this week, ensures that all excavation, demolition and construction contractors will have to be licenced by 2025.

During the transition period, they must obtain provisional approval from the Building and Construction Authority, which regulates the sector. 

Those caught operating without a licence face fines of €50,000 and prison sentences of up to six months.