“Take care, watch it” were Labour leader Dr Alfred Sant’s words yesterday, warning the Nationalist government led by Dr Lawrence Gonzi if it attempted to shift around electoral districts to the PN’s advantage.

In a wide ranging and hard hitting speech at the traditional Worker’s Day celebration in Valletta, Dr Sant blasted the government as weak-kneed and incompetent.

“The Maltese people want change and we will be giving the people change. We want a new beginning and the Labour Party is the party that can carry out this change”.

Dr Sant said that the people have had enough of empty promises with the country now boxed in at the end of an alley. He said that the government was trying to paint a rosy picture on employment levels, but unemployment levels in Malta were in fact among the highest in Europe.

The Labour leader said that at the end of January of this year there were 12,229 people looking for work, roughly 1,300 more than a year ago. He said that prices remain among the highest in Europe with workers and their families crushed under the weight of massive expenses.

“The Prime Minister told us that we haven’t even started but what we as Labour are interested in is the family’s welfare and no one is to be left aside. Job creation has to be the responsibility of the state and Labour has always shown that it believes in social protection.”

Dr Sant said that there has never been such an incompetent government as this one which was achieving nothing but social regression.

“We have a plan for a new beginning and we will keep our promises especially to create GDP growth of four per cent every year. A new Labour government will work to increase tourism, offer industry incentives, eliminate bureaucracy and offer support to Gozo”.

Dr Sant said that if this government cannot govern, it should move aside and leave the running of the country in more capable hands. He warned the government not to let tourism fall by the wayside and chided Dr Gonzi for remaining stuck in his world of laptops.

The Labour leader also called for a revision of the water and electricity tariffs and warned the government to get serious on pension reform and not just come out with half baked proposals. He also warned the government on the introduction of dual pricing in January 2007 saying that most constituted bodies were saying that this was too soon and would only result in an increase in prices.

On electoral reform, Dr Sant said that the current electoral districts were “the fairest that we have had in the past 30 years”. He warned the PN not to play around with districts and give rise to possible gerrymandering.

“Take care, watch it if you want to change anything on electoral reform. Our country deserves better and we will be a new government that brings about change based on our three principles of work, protection and dignity”, Dr Sant concluded.