PN Calls Out Abela For ‘Stealing And Copying’ Its Food Waste Proposal
The Nationalist Party has accused Prime Minister Robert Abela of “stealing and copying” its proposal to tackle food waste, while acting as though he had come with the idea himself.
After Abela launched the Żomm Tarmix platform which offers tax incentives for businesses who donate excess food to voluntary NGOs, the PN pointed out that it had proposed a similar scheme in 2023.
PN MPs Ivan Bartolo and Toni Bezzina had presented a private members’ bill for a similar scheme in 2023. Although the government never pushed this bill for a discussion in Parliament, the PL had proposed it in its 2022 manifesto.
“While the Labour Government never misses an opportunity to accuse the Nationalist Party of being ‘negative’ and ‘lacking ideas’, the truth it is actually the Labour Government that likes to boast about others’ achievements and copies and steals the PN’s ideas at the first opportunity,” Bezzina and Bartolo said.
“For two years, the PL government refused to push this bill, despite several calls by PN exponents, including Bernard Grech in his 2025 Budget speech. However, Robert Abela has now copied and stolen this proposal and launched this initiative as though it were his own.”
“While the Nationalist Party welcomes this initiative, Robert Abela has once again confirmed that his government – rather than taking the opportunity to send a message of unity and show that on such occasions both sides of the House work together – chose to be divisive by ignoring the PN’s proposals.”
“He then tried to launch these positive proposals as though they were his own, after egotistically denying people in need from them for two whole years.”
“Just like the Covid voucher scheme, a Housing Authority rental scheme, and free school transport, isn’t the first time PN proposals were sidelined and criticised by the government, only for them to launch them months or years later.”
“This is actually the second episode in less than 24 hours where Abela’s government copied the PN’s proposals as though they were his idea. Yesterday Abela announced that he is considering miscarriage leave, a proposal that the PN announced four years ago and which it extended to parents who lose their children younger than 18 years old.”
“A true case of ‘min imaqdar irid jixtri’.”