There is a sea of difference between the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party, Prime Minister and PN leader Lawrence Gonzi told a crowd assembled in Qormi for a dialogue meeting yesterday evening.
“There is a sea of difference between the two parties,” Dr Gonzi said last night. “And the differences are clear. We believe in our youth, our workers and the whole of society, while the MLP is always scared. I appeal from the heart that on 8 March, when you decide on the leadership of the country for the next five years, and five years can make a huge difference, be very careful.”
The PN, he said, is using e855m it has secured in EU funding for areas such as the environment, social assistance and health, while the MLP wants to reopen the entire EU package. The PN, he said, wants to see Malta’s children advance in life, the MLP wants to see them held back a year. The PN’s policies, he said, foster stability, the MLP’s doubt and uncertainty.
“The MLP’s sense of national inferiority comes out in its policies,” he said. “The MLP did not believe that we, as a people, were capable of succeeding in the EU alongside larger countries. We have not only made Malta an EU member, but we have placed Malta at the very heart of the EU.
“I always try to think of myself as a parent, and when I mark my ballot I don’t do it according to political colour, but according to what is best for my children, their future, their education and their prospects.”
The dialogue meeting in Qormi, hosted by Pierre Portelli, was, at one point during a section about stipends, interspersed with clips from Monday’s lively university political debate. Appearances of MLP leader Alfred Sant on monitors around the tent were greeted with taunts, and Dr Gonzi with cheers.
Dr Gonzi clearly enjoyed the university debate, and challenged the Qormi crowd when when he arrived at the meeting last night to better the noise made at the university the previous day, who rose well to the challenge.
In another light moment, when Mr Portelli asked Dr Gonzi how he managed to appear tireless and perpetually positive despite the rigours of an electoral campaign, a member of the audience shouted, “Because he’s a horse!” Dr Gonzi was quick to reply, “Coming from Qormi, that’s a compliment.”
Dr Gonzi insisted the MLP’s allegations that the government intended to move up MATSEC resit dates by months, which would see potential university students being held up a year, were unfounded and completely false.
“This,” he said, “is another lie and shows the MLP is panicking.”
The suggestion, he said, had come from experts engaged to consult on the issue, but had been thrown out by the minister. The university website, he added, still informed students that resits were in September.