The leader of the Opposition should decide whether he is leading a political party which takes decisions on issues or not.
AD Secretary General, Ralph Cassar, said:”It is clear that the Nationalist Party prefers sitting on the fence. It is copying Muscat in sitting on the fence. With divorce the party took a ‘no’ stance and then had a sizeable number of its MPs voting in favour. With the spring hunting referendum the party is still pandering to hunters. On Civil Unions it kept mum until the last moment and then did not have the courage to take a clear cut position in parliament, but instead lashed out at the Church, whom Simon Busuttil seemingly expects to do the party’s work. On the first small step towards decriminalization of drugs for personal use it is pertinent to ask whether Simon Busuttil wants to send young people who might need help to prison? Probably the PN will take a decision at the last moment. This kind of party does not deserve support in the forthcoming European Parliament elections. It is copying Muscat’s wait-and-see politics. Only AD is credible on issues ranging from the destruction of the environment, to a more humane stance in social policies.”
On the issues of decriminalization of drugs for personal use, AD spokesperson for Social Policy Robert Callus said “Why is the PN not taking a stand? Maybe because they ideologically agree with criminalizing drug users but are also aware that due to this a substantial amount of their voters are labelled criminals?
“Why this reluctance to change our draconian laws, which have shown time after time that Malta’s “war on drugs” is a miserable failure? Skeptics of decriminalization should only read the success story of Portugal where not only didn’t drug use increase significantly since decriminalizing all drugs in 2001 but has seen a significantly lower rates of drug related crime and disease. Decriminalization of personal use is a win-win situation for literally everyone.”
Secretary General Ralph Cassar concluded:”Simon Busuttil wants to turn the EP elections into a issue free beauty contest between PN and PL. But he should also remember that in reality there is not much choice between the old style politics both of them espouse. A vote for both of them will just mean a vote for the stale status quo. Those who want real change will vote Green.”
