invited party supporters to rally at the new Nationalist Party hall in Pietà once he reveals the election date, expected today.

Speaking in Senglea, the prime minister asked PN supporters to gather at the new Dar Centrali on the day when he would be asking President Fenech Adami to dissolve parliament.

Prior to the PM’s speech, PN Secretary General Joe Saliba unveiled the party’s electoral song Dan hu l-Mument (This is the time) which had won the 2007 Kanzunetta Indipendenza contest.

Dr Gonzi told his audience that they must not take anything for granted. He said the Nationalist government had been determined to go all the way into reaching new agreements with doctors and nurses and opening the Mater Dei Hospital while the Malta Labour Party contented itself with mudslinging the process and casting doubts.

“Party studies have shown that there are still a lot of undecided voters out there. This is a sign of maturity among people and it is our task to inform them,” said the prime minister. Directly addressing the “undecided”, Dr Gonzi asked whether the people had fully understood the Labour proposal of installing a reception class between the end of kindergarten and the start of primary schooling.

Recalling his days when he was still raising young children, Dr Gonzi said parents seek to send their children to the best schools after they had completed kindergarten. He said that anyone was free to let their children repeat a schooling year; however he would not have obliged.

He said Labour was once again meddling with education as it had done in the 80s. “I decided to enter politics during that time as I wanted to stop the MLP from meddling with my children’s education,” he said.

“Is this Labour’s new beginning?”, he asked, “or are they trying turn the clock back by 20 years? The reception class proposal alone is enough to condemn the MLP to opposition in aeternum” he exclaimed.

Dr Gonzi told voters to forget that the ballot paper would be carrying candidates’ names and party emblems. Voters, he said, should picture the child’s name on those ballots as they would be deciding their children’s fate.

The prime minister then fired a broadside at the opposition party regarding its leader’s promise to abolish the fuel surcharge come next MLP government. “How is he going to finance such a move? Through his prime minister’s salary?” enquired Dr Gonzi. He accused his political opponent of financing the surcharge through taxation if in government. He commented that taxation was important in order to finance pensions, children’s allowance, building new schools and a new MCAST campus, enlarging university and turning the Maghtab landfill into a national park.

He said his tagline of measuring him by his actions should also be applied to the MLP after he touched on Dr Alfred Sant’s latest outing on renegotiating Malta’s accession agreement with the EU. “He would make a fool of all of us as he did in 1996 when he froze the country’s accession application and made us fry ready to be gobbled up,” charged the PM.

Dr Gonzi said the people should not trust anyone who had been proven lacking substance in policymaking.

The PN leader acknowledged that his government has made mistakes, however, he said if one had to compare the good with the bad, “then the scales would surely tilt in favour of the good”.

Speaking about investment, Dr Gonzi said businessmen would not invest in Malta just because they took a fancy on the Maltese. They do so because they are sure of getting a return on their investments. He recounted how investment had surged as soon as the government announced it would commence proceedings leading to the euro adoption. Everyone was happy on 1 January, he said, except for the MLP who took to attacking an ATM rather than focus on the euro adoption.

“In three years time,” he said, “we would for the first time in our history be speaking a budget surplus rather than a deficit.” Dr Gonzi said a PN-led government would see to use that money in creating policies among others in favour of the pensioners, children factory workers and other workers alike.

Party Secretary General Joe Saliba said the PN’s path to election started yesterday at Victory Senglea. He said the party would be facing the electorate well prepared as it has met and listened to a good number of organisations and people.