The Labour Party is in panic. This is showing quite clearly now as they have started to realise that pre-election polls have to be taken for what they are and that the people in Malta have learned many lessons from the past

It is not the pre-election polls which determine who will govern the country but the people who cast their vote after listening carefully to what the political parties have to say. It is only after critical evaluation by the people that the verdict is given. Labour is short of ideas and in politics, you cannot just rely on the assumption that people forget; you just have to prove yourself and deliver. As Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi so often repeats, the Nationalist Party can be judged on the words, the actions and the results. The words were followed by concrete actions. The actions led to substantial results. As for Labour, the last time they were entrusted with running the country, their actions led to a dismal outcome.

There is a lot at stake to risk if Labour is returned to government.  And serious people will not risk their future for anything but a better one for them and their children. However, for Labour, the future is just a slogan: “Futur li jgħaqqadna”. They stop short of telling us what they have planned if they get elected. And each time they try to uncover their pot slightly, we start smelling the rotten odours of their past political and economical history. 

Pies in the sky as opposed 

to concrete and measurable results

We have not heard any concrete and complete plan that they have for the economy, education, health and welfare, or how they are going to create more jobs or continue to keep our unemployment rate low. 

Joseph Muscat is like Father Christmas, promising gifts and candy to all those he meets, just to be nice and gain votes. Look at what he did recently in Gozo. He asked Gozitans for a show of hands to indicate if they want to work in Gozo and then promised to create the jobs for them. Muscat is appearing like the great Houdini, but he is always hiding his magic wand.

Then he goes to Ta’ Qali, spends a week listening to the demands of his supporters and then says he will include these demands in the Labour manifesto. Is this the politics that Muscat is proposing if he wins the elections? Are we returning to the times when Labour had set up the Committees for Neighbourhoods (Kumitati tal-Ġirien) under the old Mintoffian regime to serve as a machine for favours?

What the PN in government has delivered for the country is there for all to witness. It can be experienced by the students who have started another academic year. It is witnessed by all those who moved on from the educational spheres to the world of work – better jobs with a better pay for a highly-skilled workforce. It is the health service – succinctly summarised in the Mater Dei Hospital which is a monument to how the PN government administers public funds for the common good.

Negative utterances as opposed to positive plans

Labour hasn’t changed and still remains a negative party, with a negative election campaign run by negative people. No wonder that their election campaign is again on a negative note. They are a negative party. Look at their speeches. Look at their newspapers. Look at their billboards. You will rarely see them smile and the more the election approaches, the more they become angry, arrogant and intolerant. They don’t do it to please their supporters as much as for their own well being because anger and violence is part of their tried and tested practices, a way of life.

Look at what they are putting in their billboards. They are waiting for the PN posters, borrow their wording and be negative about it.  After a long time in opposition, one would have expected them to be so full of energy that they would fill their posters with new ideas each and every week.

What a contrast with the PN’s positive politics. Unlike Labour, which is keen to sack whoever doesn’t agree to its political creed, the PN government has always worked and will continue to work with all people of different political opinion.The PN government has approached bad times with a positive attitude, working hard to overcome the crises and protect workers’ jobs. It is always this commitment and determination that makes the PN the only party capable to sustain the best economic and political policies for our people.

David Agius is the government whip