Watch: Joseph Muscat – ‘PN Turning Into Fringe Group And A New Right-Wing Party Could Emerge’
Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the Nationalist Party is turning into a “fringe group” and that a new right-wing party could emerge to challenge its dominance.
Muscat, who is currently facing possible criminal action as a result of a magisterial inquiry into the Vitals hospital deal, sat down with Miirko Sant from the Leħnek platform to discuss several issues.
He dismissed suggestions, often voiced by PL exponents, that he is responsible for the PN’s downfall and said the Opposition party “actually destroyed itself”.
“Be it the Maltese language issue, the issue of whether Malta should align with the UK or Italy, the issues of independence or integration, freedom or independence, and EU accession, the two main parties have always had a vision they could identify with.”
“However, after Malta joined the EU 20 years ago, the PN seems to have ended up in a situation where it doesn’t know what it stands for.”
Muscat said he agrees with Professor Joe Friggeri’s assessment that Malta’s EU accession “opened a window from which entered a gust of wind that swept the PN away”.
“EU accession opened the window to a wave of liberal European ideas that were antithesis to the PN, which isn’t a popular party in the European sense but more an Italian-style Christian Democrat party. At the same time, it gave a boost to the PL, which had to discover its ideals from the 1960s with regards to social mobility, free expression and equality.”
“I believe that the PN is becoming a fringe group and if it doesn’t do anything about it, another right-wing party will emerge in Malta and we will see a change in the political landscape.”
Muscat said the PN’s weakness means it is hard to tell whether PL’s electoral dominance is mostly attributable to public trust in the governing party or the lack of a proper alternative.
“If it is the second one, then that is more concerning,” he said.
Muscat said that while people view PL as the party that promotes economic growth and the fair distribution of wealth, they struggle to understand what the PN stands for.
“It’s not enough for PN to say it’s against corruption. The PL spent years saying it’s the party in favour of quality of life, but these are issues that you expect NGOs to talk about. A political party needs an entire programme of governance.”
READ NEXT: Għajn Tuffieħa Bay Voted Europe's Best Beach By Over A Million Travellers
