The Nationalist government has a clear vision of the country’s future and is achieving successful results in each sector, including employment, research and development and foreign investment, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

Dr Gonzi was speaking during a public dialogue meeting held in Naxxar, chaired by The Malta Independent deputy editor Michael Carabott.

Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi and Nationalist Party (PN) candidate Janice Chetcuti also participated in the discussion.

Dr Gonzi said that research and development is a golden opportunity for the whole world and that locally, private companies in the pharmaceutical industry are going full speed ahead.

He pointed out that this week, along with Education Minister Louis Galea, he issued 51 scholarships worth Lm200,000 to students who want to continue their post-graduate studies. However, he complained that a news feature carried in One News did not even mention him or Dr Galea but simply stated that the scholarships were awarded.

“I wonder why they do not want to tell the truth but rather, want to hide what we achieved for the Maltese people,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that the people cannot trust Opposition Leader Alfred Sant with the leadership of the country.

“He has made a mistake each and every time – even when he was elected in government he could not hold his own party together,” he said.

Dr Gonzi told the audience to judge the political parties on their actions and not on what is said.

“There is no substance in what the Labour Party is saying,” he said.

When asked by Mr Carabott what the Nationalist government will do to continue strengthening the country’s economic growth, Dr Gonzi reminded everyone that they all made sacrifices until today’s results were achieved.

“However, as always, there was always someone who tried to put spokes in our wheels to stop our progress. We didn’t give up and swam against the current to finally get the results we wanted,” said Dr Gonzi.

He pointed out that foreign investors are coming to Malta because they know that it is to their advantage.

“When Dr Sant was in government, the rate of investment decreased instead of increasing. “In my first budget I increased the country’s taxes – it was needed to stabilise the country’s finances to join the euro zone. During the second year, the taxes remained the same, while in last year’s budget, taxes decreased and the number of incentives increased,” he said.

This year’s budget will focus on families: pensioners, young couples and children, said Dr Gonzi.

“Large families will benefit from this budget – right now the children’s allowance seems to work against families with more than three children,” he said.

Dr Gonzi pointed out that the country worked very hard to reduce the country’s deficit by three per cent, so that Malta will qualify for the euro.

“During the 22 months of Labour government, the deficit increased to Lm300 million, the number of taxes increased to 33 and the price of water and electricity was increased when the price of oil was at its cheapest,” he said.

Mr Carabott then asked Dr Azzopardi, who is also the chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, to give a brief explanation of what the committee is all about.

“The Foreign Affairs Committee has a very important role as it has to review the drafts of laws issued from Brussels,” he said.

Dr Azzopardi pointed out that last year, the committee reviewed 900 drafts of laws – examining the social, legal and fiscal impact of each one.

PN candidate Janice Chetcuti spoke about the impact of the government’s investment in education and environment and called for children to be taught the importance of taking care of the environment from a young age.

Ms Chetcuti also pointed out that the Nationalist government is making its contribution to reducing Malta’s carbon footprint through incentives for eco-friendly white goods and creating alternative energy through the new Sant’ Antnin Recycling Plant.

Dr Gonzi pointed out that the Nationalist government brought about a lot of changes to the country that the Labour Party was afraid to bring about.

“I cannot understand how people still trust Dr Sant. It is understandable that, due to shock, he might initially think he won the referendum but I can’t conceive how he still said the same thing only six months ago,” he said.