Speaking in Gharghur, Dr Sant said that the MLP remained consistent in all it did because it always worked to protect Malta and the Maltese. The MLP will strive for all the people to benefit from EU advantages, but it will also work to defend the Maltese against the disadvantages.
On 12 June, the choice is one between the Nationalist Party, the MLP and the option not to vote. An MLP statement quoted Dr Sant as saying that those who wanted to back the PN should either vote PN or not vote at all.
The PN knew about this and was therefore saying that the 12 June election is a vote for Europe.
They were doing this to try to persuade Labour supporters to abstain from voting, in the hope that they would not realise that it was in their best interests to ensure a good Labour representation in the EP.
Dr Sant said that the Labour team in the EP should lay the foundations so as to ensure that, when the MLP is in government, it would have the necessary contacts to improve the status of Malta. “Anyone who wants to safeguard the interests of Malta in the EU should vote for the MLP candidates,” he remarked.
From his meetings with Maltese families, it was clear that their main worries were the unemployment problem and the rise in the cost of living. In recent days there have been price fluctuations on many products, even though the prime minister did not know what prices had changed because “he was not running a supermarket”.
The Labour leader again insisted that there should be a price watch to monitor such price fluctuations in an effective way.
This work could be carried out by the MIC, which had a budget of Lm350,000, and the consumer department.
What is wrong with publishing information about prices, Dr Sant asked. The government was saying that there was no need for this, but many families did not know where they stood. There had been no problem in finding Lm13,000 for the prime minister to travel by private jet, but at the same time the government was doing nothing to safeguard the interests of the people with regard to the cost of living.
Dr Sant said that the government was waiting for the 12 June election to pass before coming up with proposals regarding the pensions reform that is needed. The government had reports about the matter but they were being kept locked up until after the EP election.
The MLP, like all European socialists, believed that state pensions should continue to be guaranteed. “If the prime minister is asking how the MLP feels alongside the European socialists, we will tell him that we are feeling well because in matters concerning employment and pensions we see eye to eye,” Dr Sant said.
He said that local councils with a Labour majority had carried out 80 per cent of what they had promised, while those with a Nationalist majority had managed only 50 per cent and some of them had not even carried out 30 per cent.
Those present in Gharghur were also addressed by MLP party affairs deputy leader Michael Falzon and the candidates who will contest the EP election on behalf of the MLP.