Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/423164
TIM DIACONO THE Opposition will be present- ing a no confidence motion in Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia after the Prime Minister's refusal to sack him, PN leader Si- mon Busuttil announced. Addressing a news conference at the PN headquarters following the Prime Minister's speech in parlia- ment yesterday evening, Busuttil accused Joseph Muscat of "fear in the face of abuse". "Joseph Muscat has proved him- self to be weak in face of this abuse of power, and since he doesn't have the courage to get rid of him, we will take action ourselves and present this motion," Busuttil said. The PN leader reiterated that Minister Mallia had to shoulder responsibility for last Wednesday's shooting incident and for the sub- sequent "cover-up". "It is clear that Muscat this evening stuck his neck out for Manuel Mallia, while completely ignoring the scandals involving Minister Helena Dalli and Labour MP Luciano Busuttil. Muscat, with his refusal to let go of Mallia, is an accomplice to all that has hap- pened," Busuttil said. In reaction to Busuttil's an- nouncement, the government said the PN leader was in "panic" be- cause he is unable to give an an- swer to the Prime Minister, who totally rebutted the opposition leader's criticism. WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 26 NOVEMBER 2014 • ISSUE 392 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €0.90 Editorial - PAGE 8 Newspaper post CONTINUES ON PAGE 2 Opposition to present motion of no confidence against Manuel Mallia JURGEN BALZAN THERE was little doubt that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's riveting budget reply to the opposition lead- er's comments was intended yester- day to drag the 2015 Budget back to centrestage, which it had lost to two bullets discharged into a car. The Prime Minister gave an ener- getic speech to parliament in which he brilliantly outlined his govern- ment's economic vision but failed to address the pressing political concerns which were highlighted by the leader of the opposition on Monday. Evoking his bullish performances during last year's electoral cam- paign, Muscat drove the point home that his government's economic plan is on track and the country is in a better shape than the previous PN administration had left it. He also found time to praise former Nationalist ministers for their sterling work in relation to persons with disability. But following PN leader Simon Busuttil's energetic delivery, which set great store by criticism of the La- bour administration and Muscat's unfulfilled meritocracy pledge, the Prime Minister failed to quell con- cerns on accountability and good governance. Despite attacking Busuttil and the opposition's credentials, Mus- cat's reaction fell short of answering questions which arose following the shooting incident involving home affairs minister Manuel Mallia's driver, Paul Sheehan. Muscat dedicated only five min- utes of his two-hour speech to ad- dress the concerns surrounding last week's incident in which Mallia's driver fired at least two shots in the direction of a vehicle following a minor traffic accident. "Do you really think that I am happy with what happened? I am disgusted," Muscat said, adding that the fact that Sheehan is a police constable made matters worse. "Yesterday I wondered what the leader of the opposition would have talked about had the deplorable in- cident not taken place. But Busuttil is playing Sherlock Holmes, trying to be judge and jury." PM stresses economic achievements, falls short in addressing political issues CONTINUES ON PAGE 3 Home Affairs minister Manuel Mallia