Speaking at a meeting of the Moviment Nisa PN, the prime minister explained that the PN has given people a wide range of candidates to choose from. “I am not going to ask people to vote for the women simply because they are women,” he said, “as this could belittle them”.
Dr Gonzi said people should vote for these candidates because they are capable, consistent and determined to make the best out of Malta’s EU membership. They will work for funding to open family centres and day care centres to support working mothers, he said.
Dr Gonzi emphasised the need to raise the level of female participation in the island’s economy. The PN candidates will work towards this, he said. Malta is highly dependent upon the quality of its human resources and this is why the government has invested millions in the education sector, continued the prime minister.
He said it is encouraging to note that in the last three years the number of female university students has exceeded the number of male. “This is a sign that times are changing and in a few years more women will be ready to take on the challenges the job market has to offer,” said Dr Gonzi.
Women must participate in all political spheres, he said – local, national and European. The prime minister said part of the Lm90 million offered to Malta by the EU on its accession was to help raise Maltese women’s
contribution to the economy.
Dr Gonzi reminded the gathering that the MEPs elected will have a say in the drawing up of the EU financial perspective for the period 2006-2013. We need people who know how the EP works and can negotiate the best deal for Malta, he said.
The Malta Labour Party is afraid of the EU and thinks it is constantly trying to trip Malta up. Their candidates would go to the EP on the defensive and ready to fight, continued the prime minister. This is why he urged people to vote for the PN candidates. “They are the most persuasive,” he said. The PN will get practical results because they know how to argue sensibly and they understand how the parliament works, concluded Dr Gonzi.
Yesterday evening the prime minister also visited families in Sliema to spread the PN election message and urge voters to vote for the Nationalist Party candidates in the imminent EP and local council elections.