Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/829524
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 MAY 2017 19 Interview Prime Minister JOSEPH MUSCAT says that after Egrant, he cannot hope to build a relationship with Simon Busuttil: 'If I win, I hope for the good of the country Simon Busuttil will resign' Busuttil. It is almost a reflection of the climate of emergency that the country currently finds itself in. For the country to move forward, one of us has to go. That is why I say that if I lose the election, I will leave politics. It is clear to me, be- cause I cannot work with a person who used political tactics of this sort, who used a lie to destabilise the country, to endanger jobs, be- cause of his own personal political ambitions, because of his thirst for power. If I lose, even if because of a lie, I will leave. Because the coun- try would need a system of people who can work together. In the same way, I expect that if he loses, he himself will leave. One could say the same thing about you. Today, Konrad Mizzi is contesting for the election… will you let him be minister if he is elected on two districts, de- pending on his performance? The people will decide on Kon- rad Mizzi. Once I see the people's judgement, then I will decide. What I am saying is completely different. You asked me about my personal relationship. My re- lationship with Lawrence Gonzi was one of a political adversary, but it was courteous… With Si- mon Busuttil I tried to build a relationship, maybe I did not succeed. What he did to me and my family, lying about me in this manner – I can forgive, but not forget. I cannot build a relation- ship with him… If I win, I hope for the good of the country that Simon Busuttil will resign. You mentioned the issue of Si- mon Busuttil using his influence with the cabinet about an out of court settlement. What else shall we hear about this allegation? You will hear facts, it is not a ques- tion of inventions, it is a question of facts. It was an issue that had been dragging along for nine years on a company that had an issue with the government and they ended up in court. The advice was that it could have gone either way. It went up to parliament a few weeks after Simon Busuttil became de facto mem- ber of the cabinet, because he was deputy leader of the PN, and an out of court settlement was reached to the tune of €5 million. This means €5 million were paid just like that, and Simon Busuttil was paid part of this sum. Moving to proposals. There has been success in public finances, creation of jobs, social security and civil liberties. What is the Labour Party's vision for the next five years? A cosmopolitan society, mean- ing a changing society, one that is more open, more prepared to ac- cept other cultures, one that under- stands that our economic growth is not part of some cycle but this is the new norm that we can acquire to- gether. To accomplish this we have challenges in terms of infrastruc- ture, which is not keeping up with economic development. We also have challenges with re- gard to the number of workers, and we need foreign workers to come work for us, and that means cul- tural challenges which will lead to integration. That word still appears to have negative connotations for a lot of Maltese, and we need to be honest enough to say that anyone who contributes to society deserves to be respected. Another challenge is that our competitiveness cannot be based just on wages but also on quality, and I think we are well on our way on this issue. It also means that we have to have more respect for the environment, and be more aware of the environment sensitivity of this country. It means that our electoral manifesto, if you look at it, is based on issues of quality of life. One of our main pledges to give back public holidays is an issue that today people are telling us that, "yes they want an increase in their wage," but when compared to an increase in wage or spending one or two more days with the fam- ily, you'll find that people always lean towards spending one or two more days with their family. We are already facing a lot of these challenges in this coun- try… is this the reason for the disengagement from environ- mental lobbies, things like the American University of Malta, the land given to the DB Group… We introduced completely new systems. If you look at the way Hal Far was handed out to the Island Group, it was a disgrace. No one had spoken out then, not even the Opposition to be fair. Obviously, this time there was a discussion on the DB Group, maybe because the economic rhythm is different… Obviously we have to take on board the criticism. I think one thing that severed ties with the environmentalists was my posi- tion on the hunting referendum. I think that a lot of environmen- talists believe, I don't know if they are right or not, that the fact that I spoke clearly about hunting shifted the weight in favour of the hunters, and if I had remained si- lent, the referendum result would have tilted to the 'No.' I know that that is the opinion of a lot of envi- ronmentalists. I think something was severed then. From my end, I'm not the kind of person who is going to say one thing to the environmentalists and another to the developers. We were judged on that issue and the issue of Zonqor, and then there are other things – I won't call them perceptions because there are realities in me too… There is a bridge building ex- ercise, but the onus is on us. I know that the environmentalists will not rest on my words but on facts… The only point where I can complain is that I feel we were short-changed on our progress on the quality of air. When you con- sider the progress we made when we switched from heavy fuel oil to gas, the amount of dust in the air was reduced, and the amount of renewable energy that we in- troduced – it hurts me when we mention all these achievements and the reaction is 'whatever'. It is a major health and environmental issue that this government made great progress in. The PL's slogan at the moment is 'the best times for our coun- try', but there is a feeling out there that after this election, re- gardless of who wins, it won't be serene times due to the climate the country finds itself in…. There are solutions which I'm sure we can achieve. The leader- ship of the Nationalist Party is not the PN, it is the people in gen- eral. I believe we will be able to work with many people, but my problem is with Simon Busuttil, but as I said, after the election I think one of us should make way. I have a track record too. When I was elected PL leader in 2008, the party was fragmented, with five very strong contestants who had stepped out for the role, and eve- ryone told me that I couldn't unify the party. But I did. Contrary to Simon Busuttil, who inherited a party in shambles, and reduced it to dust. I am convinced this coun- try has a very strong foundation, and I will unify it. are me'