Prime Minister and Nationalist Party leader Lawrence Gonzi, could not have been clearer yesterday about the prospects of the PN forming a coalition with Alternattiva Demokratika.

Interviewed on Television Malta by six journalists last night, Dr Gonzi observed that from what he could derive from AD statements of late, was that the party intended to form a coalition with the MLP, and that, much like the MLP, the AD has launched a “full attack” on the PN.

“Not voting or voting for AD,” Dr Gonzi said last night, “would mean a vote for the MLP.”

On the subject of the possibility of future charges for health services, which the opposition has claimed the PN administration had intended to enact, Dr Gonzi insisted the idea had not even been floated, and that there was never, as claimed, any Cabinet memo recommending such a shift in public health policy.

“There was never any Cabinet memo on the introduction of charges for health services,” Dr Gonzi stressed last night. “The allegation is completely incorrect.”

Dr Gonzi countered the question, posed by a ONE journalist, by listing a raft of proposals the Labour government, he said, had put forward in 1998 to reform the running of the Zammit Clapp home for the elderly.

The MLP’s proposals, according to Dr Gonzi, had included the levying of charges for social cases residing at the home, as well as the introduction of charges for transport and meals. The MLP administration, he added, had also proposed making several workers st the state home redundant, after which they would be relocated elsewhere by the minister responsible.

“Luckily,” Dr Gonzi said, “the MLP did not have a chance to implement the measures.”

The PN, he added, has also confirmed in its electoral programme that health services would remain free of charge under a future PN administration.

The controversial electricity surcharge issue, which has become a common talking point over the electoral campaign, was also brought up. The government, Dr Gonzi said, had cushioned the blow of increased electricity costs induced by the international price of oil for both the manufacturing and tourism industries, by introducing a capping mechanism. While the government was also already absorbing half the surcharge, some 30,000 disadvantaged families had meanwhile been assisted by having their surcharges cut, either completely or drastically reduced.

“As such,” Dr Gonzi questioned, “who exactly would be benefiting from the MLP’s proposal to halve the surcharge?”

The MLP’s proposal, he said, would merely incentivise consumers to use more electricity as opposed to cutting down on consumption. The MLP he said, had stated the halving of the surcharge would not apply to small businesses but had realized its mistake. He added, the MLP was now “panicking” and recommending compensatory tax credits for small businesses.

Dr Gonzi appealed to the MLP to retract its reception class proposal, which, he said, would “greatly damage” the country’s future by holding each and every student back a year.

Malta, he added, had no natural resources, and the only resource the country had was its children. As such, he said, the country could afford no “experiments” with the educational system such as those proposed, and carried out with disastrous consequences in the past, by the MLP.

Remarking on the investments carried out in the educational system, from the ever-growing provision of computers for students to the Lm50 million investment in a new MCAST campus, Dr Gonzi observed how when the MLP had last been in power in 1998, only 40 per cent of students had proceeded to secondary level. Now, 10 years later, the figures stood at over 70 per cent.

“No other country,” Dr Gonzi said, “had made such a significant leap.” The PN’s goal for the next legislature, he added, was to see the figure rise to 85 per cent.

Dr Gonzi also confirmed the next legislature would see a change in the law so that cohabiting couples would enjoy full rights and benefits. The proposal, he said, had not vanished since it was brought up 10 years ago. The next legislature, he said, had a “duty” to change the law in this respect.

Dr Gonzi also demanded an apology for the recent slur by MLP deputy leader Charles Mangion, for his comment to the effect that there must be something wrong with the Nationalists’ DNA

The explanation of the statement furnished, Dr Gonzi said, was not enough. What was required, he said, was an apology.

On the issue of the recent promotions given in the public service, despite the fact that all such activities were to have been suspended until after the elections, Dr Gonzi recalled having made the statement when the parliament had been dissolved and the elections had been called. However, he clarified, promotions had been given during this time only in cases in which interviews had taken place, decisions had been etched in stone and all that was left was the actual appointment.

Dr Gonzi went into a list of comparisons between the PN’s 353 “concrete” policies presented in the party’s electoral manifesto on Saturday and the MLP’s proposals for the next five years.

Many of the MLP’s proposals, he said, were simply copies of policies already implemented, and he asked where the opposition had been for the last five years. These, he said, included the closing down of the Gozo incinerator, foster care legislation, 14-week maternity leave, the establishment of an internal audit office, additional cost of living adjustments for the elderly, the rehabilitation of Maghtab and a waste separation programme.

24 hours after appointing a new Cabinet, Dr Gonzi said, a full reform of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority would begin. The process, he said, “would probably be one of the biggest challenges of my life”. The process, he added, would itself be fully transparent.

On the controversial issue of spring hunting, Dr Gonzi insisted the government had reached an agreement with the EU in 2002 over a derogation for spring hunting, but matters had changed with a legal precedent set when Finland lost a similar case in 2005. Now that Malta will also face the European Court of Justice over the issue, the government is to fully respect the verdict. Developments on the issue, he said, could be expected in the coming weeks.

Dr Gonzi also derided a proposal he said came from opposition leader Alfred Sant, that the prime minister would handle reports of corruption. Politicians, he said, had no place in the investigative process, which should be handled by the police commissioner or bodies such as the ombudsman or auditor general.

The PN, Dr Gonzi said, had done just that with every report of corruption and the results speak for themselves.