WATCH: ‘It’s A Small Country’: Finance Minister Reacts To Robert Abela’s Pledge To ‘Terrorised’ Business
Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has played down the implications of Prime Minister Robert Abela’s recent call on businesses “terrorised” by enforcement to complain directly to him.
“It’s a small country and it’s always been the case that people try to chase after politicians,” Caruana said when questioned by Lovin Malta this afternoon. “I don’t think that what the Prime Minister said yesterday is something new.”
When it was pointed out that the Prime Minister was encouraging businesses to chase after him, Caruana responded that he has “said what he had to say”.
@lovinmaltaofficial What do you make of Minister Caruana's reply? #fyp #fypmalta #malta #lovinmalta #finance #minister #primeminister #robertabela #businesses ♬ original sound – Lovin Malta
The Finance Minister also dismissed suggestions that Abela’s appeal was a response to his [Caruana’s] own recent warning to businesses that the government can no longer tolerate a state of play whereby some of them don’t pay their due taxes.
“His speech was a reference to the bill tabled by the Opposition which will be debated on Thursday,” Caruana said, a reference to a series of legislations tabled by the PN to combat white-collar crime and improve good governance.
Abela alleged yesterday that the PN’s insistence that the bill will combat corruption is just a “smokescreen” to cloak the Opposition’s nefarious intention to paralyse the economy by introducing a culture of regulatory fear.
In particular, he criticised a bill that will criminalise public servants who use private emails, WhatsApp, Messenger or other forms of private communication to carry out government duties.
“The PN wants us to go to jail if we communicate with businesses via WhatsApp, but I tell businesses not to worry and to keep on speaking to me, because I will be a shield which is constantly ready to defend them,” he said.
“My appeal to self-employed people and businesspeople is this – if you feel terrorised by an institution, don’t stay knocking on doors. Come directly to me so that I can defend you and so that you can keep on working and investing in the country. We’re here for the people and we’ll keep on talking to and defending people,” he said.
PN MP Jason Azzopardi, who spearheaded the bills, decried the Prime Minister’s comment as “populism galore”.
“The Prime Minister is saying he is ready to undermine institutions just so long as he looks good,” Azzopardi said.
“It is wrong for institutions to go above and beyond their duties and there are remedies for this, but when the Prime Minister interferes like this, it means he will take over and suffocate the institutions. They won’t learn.”
Do you agree with the Prime Minister’s recent comment?
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