Opposition leader Joseph Muscat this evening accused prime minister Lawrence Gonzi of being too power hungry.
“I was not surprised that Dr Gonzi said that he would not resign if he lost the election. He spent a whole year without a majority in parliament, yet he still refused to relinquish his seat. To Dr Gonzi power is everything,” Dr Muscat declared when quizzed on yesterday’s leaders’ debate.
“I was struck by how cut off the prime minister is from the labour market. He said that unemployment amongst youngsters is negligible. In reality almost 15% of all youngsters in this country are unemployed,” Dr Muscat claimed.
Dr Muscat said that job creation for these youngsters would be a priority under a Labour government. He was addressing a sizeable crowd at a PL activity in Zebbug, deftly dodging copies of his book thrust at him by eager supporters all clambering for his signature.
He also said that that Dr Gonzi failed to realise how cut off people feel from politics in general. Dr Muscat promised that his movement will change the face of politics completely.
“Those without adequate political contacts do not stand a change. Our movement will judge people on what they know, not who they know. Our movement will be based on the principles of meritocracy and social justice. Those who can move forward on their own merit will do, and those who need help will be given it,” Dr Muscat promised.
Dr Muscat said that the European Union has given Malta until the end of March to justify the reasoning behind Arriva’s discriminatory tariffs structures between Maltese citizens and foreigners. He claimed that the government was intentionally dragging its feet on the issue due to its political sensitivity.
Dr Muscat called the PL’s energy plan the most concrete and scrutinised ever presented during an election.
“What we have come up with in our electoral manifesto are proposals, not merely promises. They are costed and well planned. Our style of politics is not to make reckless promises. We do not want to fool people and look for excuses as soon as we are in power,” Dr Muscat.
Dr Muscat concluded by imploring all Labour supporters to go out and vote as early as possible on the 9 of March in order to send out a strong message.
PL candidate Jose Herrera said that nearly all ministers in Dr Gonzi’s cabinet had been hit by one scandal or another over the past years. He said that not one single one of them has been held accountable for these mistakes and scandals.
Interestingly, PL candidate Jason Micallef gave a very lengthy monologue, usurping all the other candidates and taking a decent chunk out of Dr Muscat’s own air time.