Leaders agree on removal of time-barring on political corruption

Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat tonight faced off on Xarabank in the first TV debate of the election campaign which came to a close with all parties agreeing on Labour's proposal to remove time-barring on political corruption. The debate began with a discussion on the economy. The Prime Minister blamed Labour for the downgrade by credit rating agency Standard and Poor's while the Labour leader accused Dr Gonzi of giving a superficial reading of the downgrade. Dr Gonzi repeatedly stressed the importance of having sound finances and warned that Malta would not belong to everyone if the island had to ask for a bailout. At this point, Dr Muscat criticised Dr Gonzi for scaring off investors, saying that Labour never did this in the past for years. "Is this what we should expect from a Nationalist Opposition?" Dr Gonzi maintained his criticism of Labour, warning that a Labour Government would drive the country's finances into a wall. Dr Muscat replied: "You've already done that Dr Gonzi." Much of the rest of the debate focused on energy, with Dr Muscat saying Dr Gonzi had no credibility on the issue and Dr Gonzi saying that experts were destroying Labour's plans. Dr Muscat brought up...