Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/828624
maltatoday, FRIDAY, 26 MAY 2017 4 YANNICK PACE PRIME Minister Joseph Mus- cat has insisted that while the current administration had made several mistakes, "books" could be written about the corruption of past Nationalist governments. Muscat was speaking at a political activity in Siggiewi yesterday evening where he reacted to comments by out- spoken PN Candidate Salvu Mallia, who said that both parties were corrupt. He said that while the La- bour Party had presented a number of proposals for the coming legislature, the PN was only capable of talking about corruption. He stressed that all the La- bour Party's proposals were realistic and costed, and had only been put forward be- cause they made sense, and were achievable. Moreover, he said that the Labour Party had the cred- ibility and could be trusted with implementing propos- als, both big and small. Many, said Muscat, had ex- pressed their satisfaction at the Labour Party's pledge to plant a tree for every child that was born, and to start discussions for children to go to school in their track suit "They are small things but they make a difference to people's lives," he said. Muscat questioned why the PN had waited so long to publish a manifesto and asked whether this was be- cause there was no agree- ment on their proposals. He said one of the propos- als was to give 16-year olds a vote in local council elec- tions, something he said had already been done. "Youths voted in local council elections in 2015," he said. "We introduced it two years ago. The next step is for them to vote in the Eu- ropean parliament elections and the general election af- ter that." A second PN proposal that caught Muscat's eye was the pledge to reduce petrol by 5c. He questioned how long this would last, adding that the current administration had kept prices stable. "According to Busuttil's website dieselandpetrol. com, Joseph Muscat is rob- bing the people of 50c per litre," he said. "So why isn't he going to reduce it by 50c. With the same reasoning, Si- mon Busuttil is going to rob you of 45c" He said the truth was the PN had no idea about how to run a country, and insist- ed that the Labour Party's manifesto is superior to the one which "made such a dif- ference" to people's lives four years ago. Muscat said that the choice facing the country was a "se- rious" one where the country would have to choose be- tween the politics of division, that was being proposed by PN leader Simon Busuttil. He said Busuttil had a sense of superiority which was fake, and ultimately exposed the fact that he was inferior. He insisted that his govern- ment was one of the first to have enacted all of its elec- toral proposals and that the government's achievements far outweighed the negative points. The Prime Minister said his government was a stable one that had put the country before itself, but was above all one that always let people know where they stood with it. "The promise we give to hunters, you can be guaran- teed we will keep," he said, while accusing PN leader Si- mon Busuttil and PD leader Marlene Farrugia of not being able to agree among themselves. Muscat said once again that the only thing that united the coalition was a hatred of himself, and that if it were to win, the country would have to deal with an instable gov- ernment "It won't be unstable be- cause of something which might have happened, but one which was born unsta- ble," said Muscat, adding that a coalition win would see the Prime Minister of the country constantly having to negotiate with Marlene Far- rugia to get things done. News Muscat: 'Books can be written about PN governments corruption' Think tank calls for cross-party collaboration to address 'complex' issues JEANELLE MIFSUD MALTESE think tank Today Public Policy Institute has called on political parties to commit to the formation of a cross-party commission fol- lowing the 3 June election with the aim of identifying options for long-term and permanent solutions to major policy challenges. In a paper published yester- day entitled "National Strate- gic Policy Challenges-A Need for Cross-Party Collabora- tion", the institute outlined specific policy priority areas, including the constitution and governance, health and long-term care, pensions, the environment and traffic. According to the institute, such policies have proven "elu- sive for either governing party to address satisfactorily in an adversarial electoral system." "This body would be able to draw upon the abundant technical expertise available within civil society," it added. The think-tank also called on political parties to work together to solve issues that would otherwise "continue to plague the country with con- sequential social and econom- ic repercussions." It said that in an electoral system where the winner takes all, courageous policy decisions are seldom men- tioned in party manifestos let alone ever considered for im- plementation. The paper points to the fi- nancial services and ICT poli- cies to argue for the cross-par- ty collaboration, saying: "Past bi-partisan efforts have over the years reaped considerable economic dividends." The institute said that failing to bring together a cross-party collaboration for such issues would "serve to perpetuate extant policy deficiencies with unavoidable political, social and economic repercussions."