The MLP yesterday started its “road to change” (Fit-Triq ghall-Bidla) campaign trail on the tour bus that will be used for party visits to towns and villages in the run-up to the general election.
A Labour delegation, headed by party leader Alfred Sant, and deputy leaders Charles Mangion and Michael Falzon, set off from the MLP headquarters in Hamrun at about 5.45pm, heading for the three scheduled stops of the evening – Lija, Santa Venera and Dr Sant’s hometown, Birkirkara.
The white tour bus has been wrapped using the party’s main visual for the campaign – a young ballerina dressed in a plum-coloured leotard accompanied by the words Bidu Gdid. Aghzel Labour (A new beginning. Choose Labour).
The words Xoghol Harsien Dinjita (work, protection, dignity), the party’s slogan, also appear on the bus, which has been tagged il-coach ghall-bidla (the coach for change).
In Lija, the Labour delegation was welcomed by a small crowd of party supporters gathered in the main square, where a stage was set-up for the event.
Dr Sant told the crowd that the Labour Party would work closer to families in the coming weeks.
“We want to understand the way families feel, because they are at the forefront of what we’re working for,” said the MLP leader, adding that the party would continue working as a team in the interest of every citizen.
He said the party’s plan for change is aimed at responding to citizens’ needs in a way that equips them with what they need for their future and for life in general.
Should the Labour Party be elected to government, it would cut the surcharge on utility bills by half during its first week, said Dr Sant, adding that this would also help businesses, since people will have more money to spend.
He also mentioned the party’s plan to cut the income tax on overtime and remove VAT on education, said Dr Sant.
The next stop was Santa Venera, where Dr Sant told the cheering crowd that even though the PN government had prided itself in having secured the country’s finances, it had still increased VAT from 15 to 18 per cent, and there was no guarantee that they had no plans to increase it again.
He also mentioned the overtime issue, saying that in the Social Pact drafted by the PN government, together with employers, they had planned for the first 100 hours of overtime to be paid at normal hourly rates.
It was at the last stop, before ending the first bus tour during the campaign trail, that Dr Sant mentioned the MLP’s promise to form a serious government that would not only be free of corruption, but also one that would be free of what he referred to as the PN government’s agenda tad-dahk (an agenda to fool people).
The MLP campaign trail on the tour bus continues tomorrow, when the Labour delegation will visit Marsascala, Fgura and Zejtun.