Dr Gonzi was speaking during a PN mass meeting at the Granaries in Floriana, which was away with Maltese, PN and EU flags.

The Prime Minister said that a week from the time he was speaking, the people of Malta and Gozo will know who is to govern the country for the next five years. “The future and the destiny of our children, our youth, will be known,” he said.

A cheer rang out and the Prime Minister said: “The voice of Maltese youth booms from the Granaries around the whole of Malta and Gozo.”

He said that on 8 March, the people of Malta have the right and the duty to cast their vote, for the sake of their children.

Dr Gonzi said that five years ago, the public voted the PN into office. “And five years later, I ask you to look around and see that we have left it in a better state than that we found it in,” he said.

He said that after four weeks of campaigning, people could start to draw their own conclusions. “All you have to do is draw a comparison with our proposals and the proposals that the Malta Labour Party. Again, I repeat, judge us on what we have done, not the words we say,” Dr Gonzi said.

He said that the PN had very high hopes for the Maltese people. “They do not even know where to start from. They are still looking for their new beginning. All they offer is darkness, fear and uncertainty,” he said.

Dr Gonzi said that the MLP had their chance. “They had their chance, he had his chance. What did he do? He froze our European Union application and made us look like fools the world over,” said the Prime Minister.

He said that the PN was a party that said “yes”. “We have faced challenges and made successes out of them. We have created jobs and wealth for you, your wives, your husbands and your children.”

He said that the PN was a party for youth whereas the MLP was outdated and lived in the past. The big difference that there is, said Dr Gonzi, was that the PN was the party of opportunity, jobs and progress, whereas the MLP was a party that prevented people from grasping them.

“Do not take things for granted. There is nothing guaranteed. If the MLP gets into office, we could lose all that we have gained. We need capable people to lead this country forward,” said Dr Gonzi.

He said that the country needed someone to work towards progress. “We need people that have big ambitions, not people that want our kids to repeat a school year. We do not want salt and nail production factories. We do not want people who have no ambition,” said Dr Gonzi.

He said that the country did not need people that only knew how to create uncertainty and sling mud. “That’s all we have heard… mudslinging for four weeks. We do not want a person at the helm who wants to re-open the European Union negotiations package. We do not want people that fiddle here and fiddle there. We do not want it, we do not want him and on 8 March, the people will say no,” said the Prime Minister.

He said that the MLP has aimed to create 2,000 jobs per year. “We have created 5,000 jobs per year. If that was the only aim, our unemployment register would increase by 3,000 per year,” he said.

He said that the government will put income tax down again this year, as it had done already for two years in a row. The MLP, he said, introduced 33 new taxes, including taxes on health. “And although he (Dr Sant) is trying, he will not pin his own mistakes on us. “He can look up as many reports as he likes. I can give him another 12 if he likes. But the fact is, Dr Sant, judge us on facts not what has been said and the fact is that we have never taxed health. Dr Sant, we will judge you as well. When you created the biggest budget deficit we have ever seen, you taxed health and you removed stipends. People will remember, Dr Sant,” said the Prime Minister, addressing the Opposition Leader directly.

He said that in four weeks of campaigning, the Malta Labour Party had not put one decent proposal forward.

Dr Gonzi said that the MLP had no faith in the people of Malta and Gozo. “They told us the Sicilians would come and take over our jobs and that all we will get is Lm1.5 million. They tried to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. Not only are we keeping our jobs, people are now working abroad. We did not get Lm1.5 million, we got EUR855 million,” said the PN leader.

He also said that he had not even heard one proposal as to how the MLP would be utilising these funds. He said that through EU funding, the government had closed Maghtab, had opened civic amenity sites, bring-in sites, drainage treatment plants and many, many other projects.

Dr Gonzi also reminded people that the MLP, Dr Sant specifically, had said that it would be a tragedy if Malta joined Europe. “We had a referendum on the matter and although the people voted to join Europe, the MLP had still claimed victory,” said Dr Gonzi.

“The opportunities will continue to come our way. But they will only come if we continue to offer stability, economically and politically,” he said. Last year, he said, Malta registered real terms economic growth of four per cent, higher than the EU average.

Dr Gonzi said that last summer, one of the biggest activities ever was set up in Malta at the same Granaries. “The results were so good, Isle of MTV has signed a contract to come every summer for the next three years,” said Dr Gonzi. He also said that tourism had picked up because the government was brave and allowed low cost airlines to service Malta, while at the same time strengthening Air Malta.

Dr Gonzi said that he did not know that fuel oil was going to explode to $100 per barrel. “Yet, when oil was only $12 a barrel, Dr Sant put water and electricity rates up higher than they are today. When he got into government, he made a mess in 22 months, let alone five years,” he said.

He made an impassioned appeal. “Do not take anything for granted. When you vote, you will not have a pencil in your hand, you have the country’s future in your hands. Every vote counts,” he said.

“Dr Sant has said that budget surplus is not a priority. Does this mean that a person who wants to be my prime minister, your prime minister, has already thrown in the towel?” he asked. He said that the man who aspires to be finance minister, Charles Mangion, has already said that if needs be, the and MLP government would reduce spending on health, care for the elderly and education.

Dr Gonzi said that in the last four weeks, the MLP had succeeded in scaring the living daylights out of people. “Why does he worry parents of young children? Why is he worrying the elderly, why?” he asked.