Prime Minister Robert Abela must stop playing with people’s lives and take responsibility for the spread of COVID-19 in Malta, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said during a political address today in Żurrieq.

“Stop deceiving the public because you didn’t take the needed precautions at the right time. Stop saying this pandemic is over, and realise that what you say influences people,” Grech said in a strong address.

He called out the “immature” way Abela has handled the pandemic as active cases continue to remain above 2,000, families remain locked in their homes and elderly people still haven’t reunited with their families in months. He called these people “the slaves and prisoners of our age”.

“We let people meet in the pjazzas, we let them remove their masks, and we let people go have coffees and hug, to give the impression that everything had passed. The time has come for politics to be honest, and not fool people,” he said.

Grech referred to the death of Qormi mayor Renald Falzon, Malta’s youngest COVID-19 victim at the age of 46, saying that responsibility must be shouldered for his death, as well as the death of others who died during the pandemic.

“I didn’t know Renald, but I don’t need to know him,” he said. “He’s a person, a Maltese person, like you and I, who deserves dignity. If we’ve lacked with Renald, if we lacked with the 97 victims of COVID-19, then we all have responsibility to shoulder. We cannot continue with our hands tied and mouths closed.”

He called for Abela to sit down and “without cynicism” and try to come up with new ways for Malta’s elderly to live, instead of just letting them exist until they die.

What do you make of Grech’s words?