The mercury of election fever is definitely rising as yesterday’s chilly weather proved to be no deterrent to hordes of MLP supporters that packed Independence Avenue in Mosta for a mass meeting.

Dressed in thick coats, hats and scarves, party followers turned the road into a sea of red flags as they waited in earnest for the party’s deputy leaders and leader to deliver their message.

Labour leader Alfred Sant put emphasis on the need for job creation, saying, “More jobs, that’s our aim”, but he also drew attention to the party’s social policy, which was the main theme of the party’s electoral campaign over the past week; in fact, the Labour leader started and ended his speech with the words “We care”.

Over the past week, the party gave details of its proposals for the creation of a caring community and in Dr Sant’s words, “The MLP cares, it cares for families, children, young people, the elderly”.

The Labour leader urged the party faithful to go and pass on this message to the electorate – the message that the MLP has a plan for a new beginning by means of a social policy and an economic policy.

“And we tell the truth,” he said, adding, “we never lie to families and under no circumstance will we fool the people”.

He went on to speak about the need to generate more employment opportunities and the need for more women to enter the workforce.

He said only 55 per cent of the Maltese had a job, compared to the 65 per cent EU average, and only 35 per cent of Maltese women have a job, compared to the EU’s 57 per cent.

The MLP’s plan includes ways of creating more and better employment opportunities that would in turn improve the quality of life, said Dr Sant.

“We want to encourage and support those who have a good job and those who are creating good employment opportunities,” he said, adding that the MLP plans to make the most of what has been achieved and build upon it.

The party wants to create opportunities for investment and employment, said Dr Sant, before going on to say that strengthening the tourism industry will be a priority for a new Labour government.

He said Labour also wants to further strengthen the financial and maritime services sectors, as well as the agriculture and fisheries sector.

“Generating more employment opportunities – that is our aim,” he affirmed, adding, “a good leadership would give our country a great future”.

“We need to mobilise our resources to create opportunities and move forward. We can be more capable and more productive than others,” said Dr Sant.

He said the MLP believes in people’s capabilities and the ability to take the initiative. It was important, however, to work by means of a plan, a plan for an effective effort to reach our targets, said the Labour leader.

“Who dares, wins and we are courageous, that’s why we’re going to win,” he told the cheering crowd.

He said the party has ambitious aims for industry, tourism and the country’s future in general. As stated in its electoral manifesto, the MLP plans to create 2,000 jobs in industry over three to four years, and an additional 4,000 over four to five years, by means of different proposals it is putting forward.

“Work, more work and even more work,” Dr Sant insisted.

He mentioned the party’s regional development plans for the Bugibba/Qawra area, the Grand Harbour area and the southern part of the island and said these were aimed at boosting Malta’s tourist product.

“The more tourists we can get, the more we can move forward and seek more business opportunities and more investment,” he said.

Still speaking about tourism, the Labour leader said the Ta’ Qali crafts village will be regenerated within two years in the best interest of small and medium enterprises.

“Let’s take the country out of this alley of stagnation,” he said, before going on to say that the Labour Party wanted to protect families’ quality of life, protect them against the cost of living by increasing their purchasing power and creating job opportunities.

In doing so, he highlighted the party’s three cornerstone measures – cutting the surcharge on utility bills by half, removing income tax on overtime and removing VAT on education.

He said this week he would announce the way the self-employed would also benefit from the party’s surcharge proposal.

Concluding, Dr Sant spoke about the government’s cases of corruption, as he has done in most of his speeches since the electoral campaign started two weeks ago.

“There has to be a change from top to bottom. (Rural Affairs and the Environment Minister George) Pullicin(o) was humiliated, but the prime minister should also be held responsible,” he said.

Speaking about the Lotteries and Good Causes Fund, which has been the subject of much controversy over the past couple of weeks, Dr Sant said the money is not supposed to go towards commercial organisations.

As a result, he said parliamentary secretary in the Finance Ministry Tonio Fenech was satisfying his own interests to contribute funds towards the organisation of events like a football match.

“We need change, so that these things will stop once and for all. We need a change that is built on the truth,” he said.