The new direction Labour leader Joseph Muscat is seeking is the old direction of the Malta Labour Party, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi insisted this evening.

Speaking at a political activity in Santa Lucija, Dr Gonzi pointed out that on Tuesday, Dr Muscat had stated that he would not have closed down the shipyards, seizing on this to insist that it helped him understood the unspecified change of direction the Labour leader was seeking.

He ended up emphasising the Labour leader’s reservations on what happened to the shipyards a number of times during the event, and insisted that that Dr Muscat wanted to emulate “the socialism of Dom Mintoff and of Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici,” and waste millions on shipyard workers who were affiliated with his party.

Coincidentally, Dr Mifsud Bonnici had deemed the present Labour Party unrecognisable from the one he had led in an interview with this newspaper published earlier this week.

The PN has brought over Spanish MEP Teresa Jimenez Becerril this week, and at the activity, she insisted that the socialist PSOE was to blame for Spain’s poor economic situation, and that her own Partido Popular, now back in government, had to be brought in to clean up the mess.

At an earlier press conference, the MEP had also emphasised the need not to experiment with one’s vote at this time, a point Dr Gonzi followed up in his subsequent intervention.

He noted that his government may have taken tough decisions which cost it in terms of popularity, but insisted that these brought results, and that there was no reason for people to experiment on election day.

Later on, he pointed out that while both Dr Muscat and himself said a lot of “nice words,” voters had to think about them properly.

Ultimately, he said, “it’s all about the economy,” and that this was an issue where his party consistently outshined Labour.