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The Maltese Herald

Nationalist Party Censors Interview with Its Finance Spokesperson for The Maltese Herald

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by

Mark Camilleri
in ,

I spoke with the Opposition’s Spokesperson for Public Finances, Graham Bencini, who confirmed that the Nationalist Party does not want him to be interviewed by The Maltese Herald. Graham Bencini had agreed to being interviewed by this website, before he informed us that the Nationalist Party didn’t “release permission to give the interview”. He informed us of this decision after we sent him the questions in advance. The interview was meant to be recorded.

We would like to point out that the incumbent Minister of Finances Clyde Caruana was interviewed by this website, and no questions were sent to him in advance for the interview. He also did not ask for permission to give us the interview. You can read the full interview here.

Some of the questions we sent to Graham Bencini are as follows and we will be pursuing the Opposition to provide answers. Having said that, our original intention was to record a live interview so that we may be able to follow up on the answers provided.

With Donald Trump as US President, we may yet again see lower energy prices and a renewed fight against inflation. The Maltese government is issuing โ‚ฌ152 in energy subsidies next year. How would you do things differently to keep electricity prices low in Malta without forking out so much subsidies?ย 

One of your main critical points against this government is the ballooning public debt. How do you plan to bring it down? The incumbent government is answering this question by aiming to collect more taxes with more economic growth.ย 

Malta is vulnerable to external risks. During the Covid pandemic, the Maltese government took on a lot of debt to pay its way out of the crisis. Taking on more debt in the case of another external shock is even riskier for our public finances. How do you plan to mitigate any future potential and external shocks?ย 

As an accountant and auditor by profession aspiring to become Malta’s next Finance Minister, the Nationalist Party inevitably brings back memories of Finance Minister Tonio Fenech and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s administration, which is often remembered for mismanaging public finances and keeping the economy in a recession. How do you plan to convince the electorate that you are different and capable of delivering better management of public finances?

Comments

10 responses to “Nationalist Party Censors Interview with Its Finance Spokesperson for The Maltese Herald”

  1. N Scerri avatar
    N Scerri

    Are you sure Fenech and Gonzi mismanaged public finances.Labour threw away billions to contractors and positions of trust and nothing to show.PN left new schools,new hospitals,new Gozo ferries,restored Valletta,Mdina,Cittadella..spent money to prepare for EU membership and opened a sea of opportunities for our youths to work and study in EU.

    Reply
  2. Andrew Borg Cardona avatar
    Andrew Borg Cardona

    Good question. Mark, try to avoid the Labour narrative, even if you don’t mean to use it.

    Reply
  3. John Cordina aka Benny avatar
    John Cordina aka Benny

    It’s a tricky but pertinent question. Thanks to the loose construction policies that are destroying in an unsustainable manner our environment and cause severe health concerns the public in general is feeling better off than the Gonzi years. In general nepotism and freebies are much more widespread. Hence the general perception is that our finances are being managed better. How therefore will PN manage this situation should they be elected?

    Reply
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