The days when everything revolved around partisan politics are over, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said on Saturday morning.
Speaking during a radio interview on the Nationalist Party's radio channel NETFM, Dr Delia said it was now time to truly start putting the country first. He urged people to think beyond their political party affiliations and instead focus on being united for the good of the whole country.
"We need to realise that the time of partisan politics is over. We truly need to put our country first…even before our political parties. We need to be united for our country and not for our own interests or those of our party because that will not be enough.
"We need to forget that Malta tagħna lkoll ['Malta for everyone'] and realise that Malta aħna lkoll ['Everyone is Malta']," Dr Delia said with reference to the Labour's electoral slogan for the 2017 election.
Good governance proposals
Pointing to the 15 good governance proposals the PN unveiled last week, Dr Delia said these would ensure that no matter who is elected, nobody would be above the law.
"Is there anyone who wants the small guy to get dragged to court, while those in power get away with corruption? Do we want our children, who study and work hard, to struggle to get a job while hundreds of persons of trust are paid thousands just because they are close to a minister?
"Let us make sure we change things in a way that, whoever is elected to power, people can speak without any inhibitions. We cannot have businesses saying they cannot avoid donating to the parties because otherwise they would suffer.
"Together, we need to fight this mentality."
Labour leadership
According to Dr Delia, the two Labour leadership contenders - Deputy Prime Minister Minister Chris Fearne and MP Robert Abela - have already shifted their positions to appease their followers.
While both men had stood by outgoing Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in the fallout from the probe into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the pair were quick to start agreeing with things the PN had been saying for years once they announced they were vying for role of Labour leader, Dr Delia said.
"All of a sudden, two people who have been sitting next to the prime minister for years, are saying the complete opposite. Their positions changed overnight," the PN leader said.
"I do not believe they actually believe in all this. But they are looking at their own interests. They do not care about the common good but about power."
Mr Fearne and Dr Abela are competing against one another to assume the Labour leadership on January 12 and replace Dr Muscat as prime minister.
Vitals, Egrant court cases
Moving on to two court cases he had filed in an attempt to obtain information he believes should be in the public domain, Dr Delia said he would continue to fight these with all his might.
The two cases are about the Vitals Global Healthcare hospital privatisation deal and the publication of the Egrant report.
"You cannot have a government who keeps the reports that are of national interest," Dr Delia said.