“No way will I call an early general election,” Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told PN supporters at the Nationalist Party club in Gzira yesterday.

Participating in a discussion together with Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg, as well as Parliamentary Secretary within the Finance Ministry Tonio Fenech, Dr Gonzi said this year’s budget has shown that the Nationalist Party believes that politics is not a power game, but a tool to generate growth, and the PN believes in the capabilities of the whole population – everyone, Labourites and Nationalists alike.

“When I spoke about judging us by what we do and not by what we say, I meant that the results reflect the actions that are ultimately a testimony of the values and ideals we believe in,” Dr Gonzi said.

He said that likewise, citizens must also judge Alfred Sant and the Labour Party, by what they are proposing as solutions to the country’s problems.

“We asked for certain sacrifices and some people might have even had to sacrifice more, but we are seeing that the economy has grown and everyone is now benefiting from the results,” Dr Gonzi said.

He expressed his satisfaction that in the first half of the budget speech, he explained what the country has managed to achieve – a clear demonstration that the sacrifices were not useless.

He said that the Nationalist Party was not stingy with anyone and yet positive results were achieved, and added that the aim was not for everyone to congratulate the government, but rather to take decisions in the best interest of the country.

“We actually did better than projected and while we thought we would have Lm8 million at our disposal for tax cuts, in fact we have Lm12 million,” he stated.

Dr Borg said that the budget was aimed to improve everyone’s quality of life and said that it was the Nationalist Party that has worked consistently over the years to improve so many aspects of the society we are nowadays familiar with.

He pinpointed the elderly as some of the people the PN was particularly working for. “We have been improving the St Vincent de Paule Residence for the Elderly and we transformed it from a shameful place nobody wanted to live in, to a beautiful residence. The next project for the residence is a 240-bed unit,” Dr Borg said.

He also referred to education and the fact that while the Nationalist government wants to work as much as possible to improve education in general, a particular priority is that of improving education in state schools.

“By means of this budget however, the Nationalist Party wanted to show that it wanted to thank everyone who made sacrifices for the country. We are helping parents who send their children to private schools and we have increased the budget of Church schools by Lm1 million every month. In the past however, the Labour government sent the police to close down Church schools,” Dr Borg claimed.

Both Dr Borg and Mr Fenech condemned the vulgar comments by the Labour Party with regard to the budget.

Dr Borg said that such comments demonstrate the differences between the two main political parties in the country.

“The Nationalist Party’s leaders represent the real values of the Maltese and Gozitan population. This budget has shown that there is something for everyone. We are ready for an electoral campaign as much as, if not more, than the Labour Party,” Dr Borg claimed.

Mr Fenech said that this budget will help the economy grow further and it provides the building stones for the next budget.

Among a number of descriptions for the budget, Mr Fenech said it will particularly generate work. “If individuals work more, they will benefit together with their families, but the country will also benefit,” he said, adding that it seemed that, according to the Labour Party, it is a sacrilege to work part-time.

“Doesn’t the MLP realise that most people who start working part-time, move on to full-time employment within the same company, enterprise or organisation?” he questioned.

Mr Fenech said that the measures in the budget are in favour of those who want to work extra to place themselves in a better financial position, and added that the ultimate aim of this year’s budget is to improve the quality of life of everyone.