The Labour Party said yesterday that the facts in the employment sector gave the lie to the Prime Minister’s claims about record employment under his government.

Under Dr Gonzi, the MLP claimed, Malta had the lowest rate of full-time job creation since independence. Malta today had the lowest EU rate of people in employment, and the lowest EU rate of women in employment.

After the Nationalist Party promised secure employment, the MLP added, there were today almost 27,000 workers whose only work was part-time. Until mid-2002 the number of people registering for work in Gozo had been lower than 500, but in the last four years, under Dr Gonzi’s administration, that number had always been higher than 600, and for 15 months it had been over 700.

The facts were that Dr Gonzi had deceived thousands of workers, including those in the textiles sector who had been promised new opportunities but ended without a job, the MLP said. Another fact was that in his cabinet Dr Gonzi had a minister who had expressed himself willing to lay bets on the number of factories in Malta which would close down and the number of workers who would lose their job.