Echoing spokesman Carmelo Abela who had spoken of the FTS shortly before him, Dr Sant said that Education and Employment Minister Louis Galea had already lied about the wrongdoings at the FTS.

In a reply to an article, published in the party’s newspaper Kulhadd, Dr Galea had said on 23 November 2003 that the employment of his distant relative Ing. Emanuel Farrugia with the exorbitant wage of Lm30,000 and Lm6,000 benefits per year had been done according to procedures and was approved by the Finance Ministry.

In fact, Dr Sant stressed, a letter sent to the Finance Ministry on 15 June by the FTS, asking for Mr Farrugia’s employment to be approved – a full seven months after Dr Galea said that this hiring was approved – clearly shows that the minister was lying, he said.

Dr Sant was speaking at the MLP Rabat club during a party activity on the budget. Mr Abela earlier had questioned why the government was holding back from publishing the reports compiled for the magisterial inquiry on the FTS, saying that the government was hiding behind the Attorney General when it said that it was up to his discretion to publish such documents. “Now that the ball is in the Attorney General’s court, I expect him to react to this matter and publish the reports,” he said.

Dr Sant spoke of the water and electricity surcharge, saying that it is clear that there is a mix-up in the information given to substantiate this surcharge. He said that it was not true that the surcharge was based solely on the losses Enemalta had made from the recent international oil price hike. In reality it was the price of crude oil that had reached exorbitant figures in recent months and not refined oil, the type bought by Enemalta to generate power, he added.

Furthermore, the price of oil is already down to the levels registered during April and May and is expected to remain stable in the foreseeable future. It is now clear that the price hike was not due to the increasing demands of emerging markets such as China and Russia but because of speculation, which has now been reined in.

He criticised the fact that despite the country’s economy has shrunk during the current year, the government nonetheless increased its expenditure by 9.5 per cent, saying that next year it is estimated that expenditure will grow on a par with the maximum economic growth rate forecast, four per cent.

The budget is an ineffective exercise, he emphasised, saying that there is a general sceptic mood about its success. “People are feeling cheated, in light of the new spring rhetoric they were fed before the election. Now they feel disillusioned and do not believe that the government will ever manage the country out of this situation.

The country’s debts will be nearing some Lm1.3 to Lm1.4 billion next year as a consequence of the government’s incompetence and warped priorities, he said.

The economy is showing signs of failure throughout its driving sectors, such as manufacture, tourism and agriculture, he said, and the government is not doing anything to help boost these sectors.

In the agricultural sector, he said, farmers are being made to depend on the government’s subsidies because the sector’s revenue is shrinking. The manufacturing sector is also suffering from serious loss of investment as large number of factories lay off people. He also questioned whether the six pharmaceutical companies that are said to set up shop in Malta soon will fill this void.

Tourism, he said, has recently registered an increase in the number of arrivals, but at the same time indicates a decrease in the revenue it generates and the number of nights tourists spend in Malta. By the same token, cruise liner arrivals have decreased by 30 per cent.

In this budget, Dr Sant said, he expected the government to do something about the tourism situation in Gozo. For every Lm100 tourists spend in Malta they spend a mere Lm2 in Gozo. He also criticised the fact that the government had stopped the helicopter service to and from Gozo, saying that there seemed to be funds for other areas but not to subsidise this indispensable service.

Despite the tall talk about the financial services sector, if one digs deeply, one finds that even this sector is facing problems, he said. Fewer people are being employed and inspite of the fact that the global figures for the sector show an increase in revenue this is largely due to profits made by the banks, a large chunk of which will not remain in Malta since they now belong to foreign owners, he said.

Unemployment has topped the 8,000 mark, he stressed, pointing out that former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami used to say that 7,000 was an alarming figure.

In the face of this failure the government is now expecting the people to carry the burden and hold their breath longer while it keeps spending without any accountability, he added.

The so-called social pact was a sham, he said, and the General Workers Union did well not to accept its terms. A social pact is supposed to be an agreement in which everyone gives something and gets something in return, but it became clear that the proposals made were one-way, where the employers and the government do not give anything.

He called a joke the Prime Ministers pledge not to raise VAT and income tax for the next three years if the social pact was struck, saying that Dr Gonzi knew far well that he could not raise these taxes as they already acted as a disincentive as it is, let alone if they were raised.

He also spoke of the removal of the leave in lieu for holidays that fall on weekends, pointing out that the Nationalists had butchered the Labour government in the 1980s when it had removed some national holidays. The Nationalist media then had said that the government had stolen a day from the people. Now it has become good to take four days leave, he said.

Moreover, he stressed, the measure will not leave any substantial impact on the competitiveness, despite what is being said.

Concluding, Dr Sant said that in line with the position taken by the European Socialists, the Labour party will be working to increase investment and commerce while at the same time safeguarding the welfare state.