Young PL MP: I’ll Never Forget ‘Dangerous Opposition’ Scenes From Last Night’s Parliament Debate
Young Labour MP Naomi Cachia warned that the behaviour of PN MPs during last night’s heated Parliament debate about the Vitals-Steward deal was a sign of a “dangerous Opposition”.
“It’s a dangerous Opposition that recklessly attacks institutions, including Parliament, with zero respect, and which stamps its feet whenever things don’t go their way,” said Cachia, who was seated right behind Prime Minister Robert Abela during the debate.
Cachia said she will “never forget” the scenes she witnessed in Parliament last night.
“We came here to debate but it seems they had other plans in mind,” she said. “It was truly surreal that the Opposition decided its leader shouldn’t speak and PN MPs shouldn’t even vote on their own motion, just so long as they can leave Parliament at 7pm to continue firing up the crowds.”
“How can you trust them? It is crystal clear. Once again – I say they are dangerous.”
Meanwhile, PL MP and CEO Randolph De Battista delivered a press conference to decry the behaviour of PN MPs as “shameful”.
“After Robert Abela started exposing Adrian Delia’s deceit, a whole commotion arose. We could see PN MPs in a state of delirium, doing their utmost to stop the Prime Minister from speaking and displaying disrespect to the Speaker the likes of which I have never seen before.”
“What the cameras didn’t pick up was much worse than what they did – the constant provocation in our faces, the insults, and obscene moves… they came for a show. It’s an arrogant Opposition that insists on getting its way all the time and which believes they are always in the right and others are always in the wrong.”
Yesterday’s Parliament debate, over a PN motion on the Vitals-Steward concession, was one of the most heated sessions in recent years.
Abela accused Delia of lying that the court ruled the government acted fraudulently, a comment that sparked outrage from the Opposition benches, with Delia demanding the Prime Minister retract his words.
At one point, Speaker Anglu Farrugia had to suspend the sitting to try and calm tempers down. The debate ended prematurely, with Opposition MPs throwing false cheques at the government benches before walking out and joining a cheering crowd of protestors.
Prime Minister Robert Abela
In his speech, Abela launched an impassioned defence of Steward Healthcare, which has given notice to the government that it is terminating the concession despite filing an appeal against Judge Francesco Depasquale’s ruling.
Dismissing suggestions that Steward did nothing with the €400 million in public funds it received over the years, Abela stated the money went to staff salaries and investment in medical services at the Karin Grech and Gozo Hospitals.
In particular, he praised Steward for developing the Queen Mary University of London medical campus in Gozo and for its role in securing a number of ventilators at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, he insisted that the government will “chase” Steward for any public money it received for services it never ended up carrying out.
Did you watch the debate in Parliament last night?
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