A new Nationalist Party government will remove the airport departure tax and will definitely reshuffle and inject new young blood into its Cabinet of Ministrrs, said Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday.
Dr Gonzi was being interviewed by Pablo Micallef, the popular host of the show Deal or No Deal, during the show Niltaqghu, which was held in Tarxien yesterday.
Mr Micallef was excellent throughout, bringing the best out of Dr Gonzi's personality, while also sticking to the more serious issues.
He joked: “At some point, I am going to ask you a question followed by, Deal or no deal.” To which Dr Gonzi replied with a smile: “Deal!”
He was asked about his family life, and what the family argued about or discussed at home. “Well, when my son David was elected President of KSU, it was at the time when stipends were a hot potato, so we did argue about that. We also had discussions about the proposed golf course in Xaghra l-Hamra, the environment and many other things. We are a normal family and have our ups and downs just like anyone else,” said Dr Gonzi.
Asked why he chose 8 March as the date for the election, Dr Gonzi replied: “I wanted a peaceful euro changeover process without any jolts. Anyway, we are used to having local council elections on 8 March, so it would have been pretty normal. Why not?” He also said that on 8 March five years ago, the people of Malta had said 'Yes' to Europe.
Dr Gonzi was asked about a recent statement in which he had accepted the blame for certain things and even made an apology. “To err is human and I am human. For the mistakes that we made, I take responsibility and again I apologise,” he said.
The Prime Minister spoke about the last two budgets and said that they were a result of the success registered over the past years. “We made those budgets to put money into people's pockets and to stimulate the economy, something which we have managed to do,” he said.
However, what is more important, he said, is that the measures are sustainable. “By 2010 we want to be generating a surplus. We will do this even though the economic situation in the US is not so good and also in face of rising fuel oil and cereal prices,” he said.
He also spoke about Mater Dei and the fifth place global ranking Malta was awarded by the World Health Organisation. Next legislation, he said, the PN would focus on primary care as well as strengthening the fantastic General Practitioner system which Malta enjoys.
He also reminded that SmartCity will generate some 3,500 jobs in the IT sector as well as few thousand more ancillary jobs.
He also said that the government was committed towards removing the airport departure tax. Then it came: “Are you ready to promise a cabinet reshuffle with new and young blood? Deal or No deal?” “Deal!” concluded Dr Gonzi to rapturous applause from the crowd.