Labour leader Dr Alfred Sant described the arson attack on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family home as a “barbaric, cowardly act of intimidation”.

He said Saturday’s arson attack was not an isolated incident but part of a campaign against those who wrote against racism or those who worked with immigrants.

Speaking at a party activity in Siggiewi, Dr Sant urged the police to find the culprits.

“Our country is very tolerant of other people’s opinions and those who think they can intimidate others in a cowardly manner, will not find any support. The Labour Party, the Nationalist Party and all democratic forces in Malta are in agreement on this point. Whoever acts in this cowardly manner has already lost his argument and deserves only one thing – imprisonment,” Dr Sant said.

Turning to the economy, the Labour Party leader described Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi as “incapable of leading and without a vision”. He said the Labour Party was offering the country a strategic plan that would boost economic growth and protect society’s welfare.

He said the government had taken the country down the same path. A Labour government however, had a plan that would set things right, one thing at a time.

He said the priorities for a Labour government would be local industry, the tourism sector and financial services. Dr Sant insisted that a higher rate of growth was necessary but this would not happen if the number of taxes continued to increase.

Referring to the Labour Party’s plan for the health sector, he said the well-being of the patient was the focal point of the plan. He added that a number of patients were turning to the private sector not out of choice but because they were not getting a decent service from the government.

Dr Sant spoke about the meeting the party had with the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise and the lack of medicines on the market.

With regard to Gozo, he said the party would be publishing its plan for the island this week and that it focused on the development of Gozo as a region.

Concluding, he spoke about the important role that mothers have in society and he praised their efforts to keep the family united.

He said that although women have equal status as men in society, certain structures still prevented women from taking a leading role.

“More measures are needed to ensure that women play a greater role in the running of the country,” Dr Sant said.

Deputy leader Dr Charles Mangion said the Maltese were paying more and more in taxes every year and the rate of taxation was among the highest in Europe. He said that recent reports showed that Malta’s economy was lagging behind that of the other member-states and this proved that the country needed a change of government.

Dr Mangion said the government had spent Lm7 million over the past two years on consultants but it was unable to find someone to give it advice on how to counter the effects of the rising international price of oil.

He said that in 1990, Enemalta used to contribute Lm15 million to the government’s coffers. Today, the corporation has Lm300 debts. Dr Mangion said the Labour Party had insisted that the government uses hedging to purchase oil but its advice had been ignored.

The Labour Party’s spokesman on health, Dr Michael Farrugia, said the government was to blame for the increase in price of medicines. He said that from a high of 8,000 medicines on the market, only 2,000 were now available. “When new regulations come into force, these will drop to just over 1,000,” Dr Farrugia said.

He also spoke about the long waiting lists for certain procedures and tests, overcrowding in the hospital and employees who were demoralised.