Lino Spiteri Public Quotations

An opposition leader deals with the Prime Minister, not with component parts of the executive. Were opposition members to go directly to members of the public administration with their queries, the government would surely yell 'foul!' And rightly so.

With one side of his mouth the Prime Minister Gonzi tells the Leader of the Opposition to take his questions of corruption to the Police Commissioner. With the other side he denies the opposition the proper working of the mechanism of the Public Accounts Committee.Something's beginning to rot, somewhere.

Partisan party considerations and public funds and cost should not mix.

The role was carved out for government backbenchers purely for Nationalist Party reasons, not to satisfy any constitutional and public need, as in the case of Cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries, who head the Executive according to the democratic separation of powers.

One should not attempt to buy private loyalty with public money.