The Malta Labour Party will be holding a general conference to approve five plans on social issues. The conference will be held on 1, 2 and 4 February, MLP deputy leader for party affairs Michael Falzon said.

The party had moved the conference from the end of January to the first week of February as a sign of respect towards the new Archbishop, who will be ordained on 26 January.

The five plans that will be discussed are on equality, employment conditions, the elderly, youth and the family, compiled respectively by MPs Helena Dalli, Karl Chircop, Silvio Parnis,Justyne Caruana.

When the general conference approves these plans, the MLP would have the foundations for its electoral manifesto ready. Over the past year, the MLP had approved other documents on the environment, tourism, industry, education, health and Gozo.

By the time the conference is held, the MLP national executive and the parliamentary group would have approved other documents concerning the self-employed, IT, agriculture and fisheries, local councils, cooperatives and the public sector.

Dr Falzon said that the MLP had gone through a long consultation period with parties concerned before coming up with its final plans.