Watch: Gonzi’s Infamous ‘Nivvota Bil-Qalb’ Declaration Broken Down By Peppi Azzopardi
A declaration by former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi over a decade ago that he will “wholeheartedly vote” (‘nivvota bil-qalb’) against the reduction of electricity and water bills has properly entered Maltese political lore.
However, Peppi Azzopardi has warned that PL politicians who bring up this statement are missing the point of what Gonzi had meant back then.
“I always wondered whether Lawrence Gonzi could possibly have said he will vote wholeheartedly against the reduction of electricity and water bills, and so I searched for the speech he gave in Parliament,” Azzopardi told Lovin Malta.
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During Gonzi’s tenure as Prime Minister, the PN government shot down a motion proposed by the PL Opposition to reduce electricity bills, and Gonzi said he is “wholeheartedly voting against it”.
However, Azzopardi pointed out that Gonzi’s argument was that, while he was in favour of targeted electricity subsidies, he was against a universal subsidisation of bills.
This was because he didn’t want the government to “subsidise electricity waste” and was concerned that a universal subsidisation could de-incentivise people from investing in solar panels.
“Lawrence Gonzi had said that rather than subsidising waste, we should use public funds to incentivise people to invest in solar panels. He also said that those who don’t have a roof or space for solar panels should be provided with them, so that Malta can start using sunlight more.”
Azzopardi said that, had Gonzi’s plan come to fruition, the current government wouldn’t have had to spend millions in public funds to subsidise electricity bills, at a burden to the national debt. He said the current subsidies mean the Maltese government is paying €600,000 in interest alone.
What do you make of Peppi Azzopardi’s argument?
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