Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday that the labour government had not managed to create any new "clean" economic sectors in Malta and that voting for the PL would mean voting for the continuation of "dirty governance".
Speaking in Naxxar, Grech said that the PL had not managed to create its own industries and "poisoned" the ones the PN had created.
Addressing the 4th EY Generate Youth Survey carried out amongst generation-Z and millennials, which found that 60% of this category would rather move abroad elsewhere in Europe than stay in Malta, Grech said that the PL is to blame for having "designed a country that was no longer attractive".
"The PL is just picking the fruit of PN investment and moreover, has damaged them," said Grech.
He criticised the PL for becoming increasingly "arrogant", noting that during the prime minister's Budget speech, he spent a long time personally attacking him - which Grech said shows how the PL is realising that the PN is attracting more people.
"The Prime Minister is realising that our party is appealing to more and more Maltese and Gozitans," he said.
"The Labour Party is nothing but hot air. In two hours, during his budget speech, all he did was look back. The prime minister spent two hours simply saying those against him are worse."
"The time for this type of politics is over, prime minister. The people want honest politicians that deliver the truth and not lies," he said.
He noted that the PN would end the current state of affairs that sees people advancing financially due to closeness with the Labour Party.
"He's wasting money by giving it to his friends," he said.
He alluded to a house visit wherein a youngster told him that she and her peers felt disheartened when seeing other people who had not studied land government jobs due to their closeness to the Labour Party.
"How can you blame youths for feeling this way when they see their university colleagues given a contract because their father is friends with a minister?" Grech questioned.
Grech added that the government uses "cheap propaganda" as with TVM, using its money to "brainwash" the populace to "believe things that aren't true".
Additionally, he noted that the government throws tax payers' money on several direct orders that were not needed and then "lies to you with a straight face".
Grech said that unlike the PL, the PN had opened the doors for education in Malta by entering the EU, introducing stipends, strengthening the University and opening MCAST.
On his part, PN MP Ryan Callus said that not only did the government fail to invest in new economic niches but that it failed to invest in the most important resource, that is, the country's young generation.
"Malta has no natural resources and so our most important resource is our youth, which the government has not invested in," he said.
Speaking about MP Konrad Mizzi who has failed to appear before the Public Accounts Committee regarding the Electrogas deal, he said that "today, no one has any doubt, not even the biggest labourite, that Konrad Mizzi is not clean" and that moreover, the government is "carrying him on its shoulders".
On her part, former MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici addressed the government's claim that the PN has not calculated the cost of all their proposals.
She noted that the PN would be using funds resulting from strengthening and developing new economic niches and by ending or reducing the funds for wasteful contracts such as Electrogas, Vitals and the Montenegro wind farm.
Additionally, she remarked that the PL is lying about the PN not having invested in pensions. She alluded to the PN having introduced pensions for elderly people who choose to continue to work, giving 300 euro for those who continue to live in the community and giving the elderly the whole of the increased cost of living adjustment.
Moreover she noted that it is the PN who ensures the elderly receive all the services and respect they deserve "as we were the party that opened all the old people's homes in Malta."
Speaking about the election date, Grech said that PM Robert Abela was "mocking" people by leaving everyone in the dark and that this was having a negative impact on business owners who had already suffered a great deal due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Businesses have suffered enough, don't increase their suffering with your cheek," he said.
"Whether the election happens this year is the Prime Minister's discretion, but he shouldn't mock the public, almost like he's having fun by not giving people an answer," stated Grech.
By contrast, Grech said that the PN will continue to be a "genuine" party that the people can rely on.
He said that the only way to understand what people are facing in their daily lives and be able to tackle it properly is to be humble and honest.
He added that the people are longing for a party that will realise aspirations and not steal money from its people.