Joseph Muscat Was A Victim Of Robert Abela’s Ill-Intentioned Advice, PN Leader Suggests
PN leader Bernard Grech has said that Joseph Muscat could well have been a “victim” of ill-intentioned advice issued by his successor Robert Abela.
“I asked Robert Abela during a debate yesterday whether he gave Joseph Muscat advice to intentionally make him crash and burn,” Grech said at a press conference today in response to a question by Lovin Malta.
“Robert Abela didn’t answer or deny this, so you can reach your own conclusions. The fact he didn’t answer me or deny this clearly gives more clout to what I said. If it turns out to be true, then Muscat would be a victim.”
“However, Abela didn’t deny this, perhaps because it wasn’t in his script.”
During his debate with Abela yesterday, Grech also accused the Prime Minister of “destroying” the economic surplus that Muscat left him.
“The PN’s financial projections in 2013 were met under Joseph Muscat’s leadership and Malta reached a surplus,” Grech said. “However, when Abela took over, the deficit returned, which means he didn’t lead the economy as well as Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat.”
While Malta’s four years of surpluses did indeed end in Abela’s first year in charge of the country, this was in 2020 – when the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with lockdown measures and government aid causing the national deficit to shoot up.
Questioned about this, Grech said it is “easy” to blame the pandemic for the spike in the deficit but that it ultimately boils down to the failure of the PL government to create new economic sectors.
“Joseph Muscat didn’t create an economic sector and neither did Robert Abela, so [Abela] had to keep borrowing money during the pandemic and increase the national debt.”
What do you think of Grech’s latest references to Muscat?
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