Now is the time for the Labour government to work on implementing its electoral manifesto, Prime Minister Robert Abela said while addressing the party's General Conference on Friday.

The party's General Conference launched on Friday at its headquarters in Hamrun and will continue over the weekend.

The conference is set to confirm Robert Abela as leader, Chris Fearne as deputy leader for parliamentary affairs, as well as Daniel Micallef as PL Deputy Leader for Party Affairs. Voting for the confirmation of the roles began on Friday. The conference will come to an end on Sunday morning. The Labour Party will also be holding a mass gathering on Sunday afternoon, to celebrate Worker's Day.

Addressing the conference, Abela said that the people gave the party a strong mandate to keep leading the country.

"We must continuously keep renewal and change in mind, to always offer credible and strong leadership. We want the PL to remain strong." He said that above all, "we want to improve the lives of all Maltese citizens."

Abela said that this legislature is bringing about new challenges. "In my first two years as Prime Minister, we worked non-stop despite the challenges brought about by Covid-19," he said. "We worked to implement the 2017 manifesto."

"At the same time, we were drafting the new plan through which we will create new prosperity for the country."

From clear ideas, he said, they moved to definitive proposals in the form of the manifesto. During the campaign, "we gave our word that there would be only one condition for the 1000 proposals to become reality. On 26 March, that condition was met."

"It is now our responsibility to implement those 1000 proposals. Yes, now is the moment for implementation. Internally with Cabinet, the Parliamentary Group and the team, we started working on this."

"We are a party that implements what it promises."

Abela said that the government's work programme must be centred on what the people based giving the PL their trust on.

He spoke about the government's priorities - a more beautiful Malta, better opportunities for all, a better quality of life. "These priorities already topped our agenda from the first day of the legislature."

These priorities must be reflected in the decisions the government takes, including when Parliament convenes, he said.

Abela said that the government can never relax on what it has achieved so far. "Look at the others, they saw the biggest loss and they want to keep going as if its business as usual."

He said that the PL needs to reflect and see how it could have convinced more people to back it, and where it disappointed others. "This is a process that we have already started," he said, mentioning meetings that have taken place.

He said that there will be moments of disagreement or heated debate, but stressed the importance of taking decisions. "Those who don't take decisions, fail."

He spoke about the Gender Corrective Mechanism. In the fight for equality and social justice, "we were always protagonists, and were never passive," he said.

He said that where there is inequality, they work to bring about equality.

Abela turned to the war in Ukraine and its effects. "As a government we are making the choice to stand with the Maltese people and protect the people." He said he remains optimistic about the future. "There were times we turned challenges into opportunities, and we will do the same in the times ahead. We are the party of progress."