Many Maltese of goodwill are immensely irritated by the sustained attack on Malta’s good name abroad which the Nationalist Party has now been involved in for several years. The vast majority of the Maltese people feel that all political disagreements between Malta’s political parties should be kept strictly localised and on no account, for whatever reason, should we involve foreigners in such disputes.

The PN’s severe damaging of Malta’s reputation abroad is all the more condemnable because a good part of the infamous campaign against Malta has been based on lies and outright inventions. I recently followed a debate about Malta in the European Parliament and was amazed at what several of the speakers said, as a good part of what was uttered did not at all reflect the reality of the situation in Malta.

It is indeed pathetic that the Nationalist Party uses Malta’s membership of the European Union not to boost our country’s image abroad but rather to undermine it in order to put the Government in a bad light with foreigners. These actions are all the more reprehensible because they pose a serious threat to foreign investment and tourism in Malta and put at risk the jobs of thousands of Maltese workers.

It is obvious to all that the current Opposition in Malta is no match for the high-calibre Government. Therefore, desperate to score political points, the only strategy the PN can come up with is to use “big brother” in Brussels and Strasbourg to whip tiny Malta so that the Nationalist Party can obtain the maximum partisan political advantage possible.

Of course, in the rest of Europe there are those who have jumped at the chance offered to them by the Nationalists. One has to keep in mind that Malta’s economic successes, even during the present trying period of the COVID-19 pandemic, have become the envy of many. Since Malta is an economic competitor of several European countries, it is in the interests of their representatives to give the impression that the situation in Malta is very worrying and that the Labour Government is to blame for this. As such, they have grasped the opportunity to take down successful Malta a peg or two.

Desperate to score political points, the only strategy the PN can come up with is to use “big brother” in Brussels and Strasbourg to whip tiny Malta.

It is deplorable that while the Labour Members of the European Parliament work hard to use European Union membership to ensure further progress and more creation of wealth in Malta, the Nationalist MEPs have consistently worked to derail such efforts. Such disloyalty to their country and to the Maltese people will be a major factor in another electoral defeat for the Nationalist Party at the upcoming general election in Malta.

The Nationalist Opposition’s attack on Malta’s good name also includes using the services of their political allies of the European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament. They have been greatly aided in this by the fact that former PN Leader, Simon Busuttil is now the Secretary General of the EPP. As such, he can use his position and the considerable influence it affords him as leverage against the Maltese Government.

Furthermore, several Nationalist-leaning individuals in Malta are cooperating with foreign journalists in the production of books, and foreign radio and television programmes presenting a totally distorted picture of the situation in Malta. So outrageous have been some of these biased media productions that Malta has been portrayed as a country run by the Mafia, as a country where all journalists are under threat and where freedom of expression is curtailed, and where corruption pervades everything and is a way of life.

The utter hypocrisy of the Nationalist Party can be gauged by the fact that after several years of using European fora to incite European countries against Malta’s Individual Investment Programme (IIP), portraying it in Malta itself as a totally unpatriotic aberration, PN Leader, Bernard Grech, on 27^th April, 2021, was quoted in the media as stating: “The PN agrees that there should be a scheme”. After this dramatic U-turn, many people remarked that the Nationalist Party could not be taken seriously as it was obvious that the sole aim of its destructive criticism was simply to try and embarrass the Labour Government in its relations with the other European Union members.

The PN’s vicious attacks on Malta’s good name are all the more lamentable because the present Government led by Robert Abela has made enormous strides in strengthening the rule of law in Malta, eradicating all forms of corruption, and ensuring good governance. However, some people are only interested in helping the Opposition to obtain the maximum political benefit possible from such a strategy of shameful attacks aimed only at damaging Malta’s international reputation, with all the negative consequences this brings with it where the welfare of the country’s population is concerned.

The Nationalist Party will soon learn, to its own cost, that the vast majority of Maltese citizens are disgusted with its behaviour and will express such disgust through the vote in the very near future.