‘You Destroyed Joseph Muscat’s Surplus’: Bernard Grech Challenges Abela Three Times On Ex PM
Opposition Leader Bernard Grech used his final election debate with Robert Abela to challenge the Prime Minister on his relationship with his predecessor Joseph Muscat.
Grech mentioned Muscat three times in the Broadcasting Authority debate, none of which portrayed the ex PM in an outright negative light.
In his introductory remarks, Grech implied that Abela had tried to stab Muscat in the back when he was Muscat’s legal advisor.
“You can’t trust Abela as Muscat did when he appointed him as his legal advisor,” Grech warned. “Look what happened. Was your advice to Muscat intended to make him crash and burn so you could replace him?”
Grech’s second reference to Muscat came during a discussion on the economy.
“The PN took Malta into the EU and the Eurozone and strengthened our public funds, while Abela found a surplus that Muscat left him and destroyed it,” he said.
This remark was strange, for 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.
Finally, Grech name-dropped Muscat after Abela said he inherited a list of 58 Moneyval recommendations, some dating back to the PN’s time in government, but that he has managed to address them all.
“Once again, he has discarded Joseph Muscat by blaming him for this Moneyval report,” Grech warned.
Abela didn’t respond to any of these three references to Muscat.
While the debate was relatively heated considering the tepid nature of this campaign, the format didn’t allow interjections, making it difficult for the political leaders to land a decisive blow.
Abela pitched himself as a leader that can offer calm, stability and political certainty in a moment of global uncertainty due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He pledged to keep energy prices stable, reduce corporate and income tax, and invest €700 million in green projects over the next seven years.
Grech meanwhile pitched himself as a visionary with a plan to create ten new economic sectors that offer salaries on par with gaming, to help people deal with inflation and to improve Malta’s international reputation.
He repeatedly accused Abela of fear mongering, warned that the Prime Minister wants to create a “dictatorship” and called him out over his refusal to accept a single interview with the independent media throughout the election campaign.
“If everything is so perfect, why are you so scared of interviews and uncomfortable questions?” he asked. “If everything is so good, you shouldn’t have a problem. Meanwhile, I accepted every single invitation from journalists.”
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READ NEXT: Watch Live: Robert Abela And Bernard Grech Engage In Final Election Debate
