Parliament approves government motion condemning Opposition for ‘causing damage’

Parliament on Wednesday approved a government motion condemning the opposition for “attempting to undermine” its work and for “causing damage to Malta” by “continuously and systematically” using European institutions to hold debates against the country.

The motion was backed by 39 government MPs, while 31 opposition MPs voted against it.

The parliamentary debate came a day after the Maltese government faced harsh criticism from Members of the European Parliament over its failure to strengthen the rule of law and for fostering a culture of impunity – factors which contributed to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

In his address to the House, Prime Minister Robert Abela stated that the Nationalist Party pushed for the European Parliament debate the day prior to attack Malta’s reputation and rule of law, in hopes that this would negatively affect the Maltese economy.

PM Abela said that a country cannot have economic progress without good governance, and that because of this, the PN Opposition decided to attack the latter through its MEPs in the European Parliament debate on Tuesday entitled “Delayed justice and rule of law backsliding in Malta, eight years after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination.”

The Prime Minister commented that causing reputational damage to the country in an EU institution to cause economic downturn is a very serious action.

He said that while the EP debate was an attack against Malta’s rule of law, this democratic facet was least impacted afterwards. Rather, Abela said that this debate’s greatest impacts will be felt in citizens’ livelihoods.

Prime Minister Abela continued that the PN was hoping through this EP debate that the government will not be able to finance the increases it plans to distribute towards “every sector” in Monday’s upcoming Budget.

PM Abela said that some of the MEPs who spoke on Tuesday came from countries that directly rival Malta on investment fronts, and that it was in their respective country’s interest to speak against Malta.

“Should you believe a foreign MEP calling for us to improve our rule of law so that they can take away our work?” Prime Minister Abela asked.

He stated that Tuesday’s debate threw mud at Malta because no investor wishes to invest somewhere with rule of law deficiencies. Abela said he will correct this personally when he travels to Brussels in the near future.

Abela said that he is not angered by what happened, but disappointed. He said he felt hurt by PN MEP David Casa stating that Malta’s rule of law is experiencing backsliding on the EU stage, remarking that “if this were true, we’d admit it – but this was diametrically the contrary.” Hence, he condemned the actions of PN’s MEPs to “debate against their own country,” saying that he’s never witnessed such a thing from foreign officials.

Abela also criticised why this EP debate was not held within the Parliament of Malta.

The Prime Minister commended judicial reforms that have contributed to opening new courts and make the judiciary the largest it has ever been, as well as the work Malta has done to combat money-laundering and bring Malta out of the FATF greylist so quickly a few years ago.

PM Abela dismissed Malta having reputational concerns. He said that if this were true, then how can the Opposition explain why Malta was entrusted with the OSCE Presidency recently, or why is Malta entrusted right now with the Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers?

Prime Minister Abela said that the Nationalist Party ought to stop perceiving the European Union as Malta’s big brother to whom it can throw accusations, “in this case, a lie,” so that Europe can do something.

Concluding his speech, the Prime Minister appealed for national unity, remarking that the EP debate did not help anyone. 

Motion reveals government’s state of panic, PN leader Alex Borg says

Opposition leader Alex Borg told Parliament on Wednesday that this “rushed” government motion illustrates the state of panic within the government’s side of the House. He also noted that the government has lied about the nature of the European Parliament debate, as well as about Borg’s intentions to be in Brussels in the week before the debate.

Borg remarked that Wednesday’s motion was put forward to silence the Opposition’s voice. He added that it is a “clear admission” that Abela’s PL government has become reactive towards the Opposition’s actions and proposals in its strategy to discredit them at every step.

The PN leader said that this motion was rushed through Parliament, to waste everyone’s time instead of talking about real issues in the country, with the hopes that he would have missed this plenary as he was just in Brussels. Borg said that he returned to Malta to safeguard the interests of all Maltese and Gozitans, against this “motion full of government’s lies.”

He continued that the government and its exponents have been lying about his reasons for travelling up to Brussels. Borg said that he went there to bolster Maltese relations as the new Opposition leader and to seek new opportunities for Maltese citizens, and not – as the government said – to tarnish Malta’s and Gozo’s reputation.

Borg said that Wednesday’s plenary would have been more fruitful had the Chamber discussed real issues.

“Today, it would have been better to, instead of discussing this partisan motion, address realities in the country – like quality of life, inflation, traffic, degrading environment, and the country losing its roots.”

He appealed for the government to come up with a “serious plan” to help Maltese families combat all salient issues at hand, including on the way forward vis-à-vis a new national mass transit system.

Borg said that because of the timing of this government motion, he was forced to return to Malta quicker than he wished; the Opposition leader said he decided to miss his first EPP summit in Brussels to attend Wednesday’s plenary. Following this remark, the Prime Minister offered him to join him on his private jet to Brussels, leaving at 8pm on Wednesday evening. This comment was made at 6:30pm.

Borg continued that earlier this week, Alex Agius Saliba stated that the European Socialists objected to having this EP debate by first publishing an e-mail, before then publishing an “official statement” signed by himself. PN leader Borg said that Maltese people are tired of such political manoeuvres and that this is showing in opinion polls.

Borg said that the only people damaging Malta’s reputation are those who got Malta greylisted by the FATF, those who get nominations for important positions rejected (in reference to Malta’s rejected European Court judge bids), and the Prime Minister himself for bringing Keith Schembri back into his fold.

PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut noted that this EP debate occurs every year and that in contrast to what the government argued, MEPs did not criticise Malta on Tuesday – they criticised the Maltese government.

Sammut commented that leading up to this plenary, he couldn’t find another example of a European government censuring its Opposition, though he found such actions to have happened in Pakistan, India, and Rwanda. PN MP Eve Borg Bonello called this motion to gag the Opposition as autocratic.