Gonzi counters Labour's 'doom and gloom'

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday appealed to the Labour Party to refrain from disheartening the people in a futile attempt to gain popularity.

The MLP had a duty and a responsibility to play a part in national development but it was instead trying to paint a gloomy picture of everything, for political mileage, the Prime Minister charged.

"Such tactics should prove to be the Labour Party's condemnation."

Dr Gonzi was speaking during a political meeting in the Labour stronghold of Cospicua, which also happens to be one of his constituencies.

It was the first in a series of meetings the Nationalist Party is holding in several of its clubs in the run up to the Independence Day celebrations on September 21.

Dr Gonzi said that while the government had been working overtime on various projects and initiatives, the Labour opposition persisted in its "mediocrity".

Still, the Prime Minister vowed, his government would carry on "renewing" the country to better the quality of life. What differentiated the MLP from the PN was the former's unwillingness to take on challenges, as political milestones like Independence and EU membership had shown.

Dr Gonzi spoke about the importance of tackling the pensions problem and branded Labour leader Alfred Sant as the only political leader in the world to ignore the ever-growing problem of the welfare gap. The MLP only preached what it believed could ultimately win it votes, Dr Gonzi added.

He admitted that he had initially believed that the MLP would change its way of doing politics with the advent of EU membership.

He dismissed the reports published by the MLP to deal with various sectors of the economy as "baseless" and urged supporters to see through the propaganda.

Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg spoke of the government's support to local councils along the years saying that a draft plan to update local councils would be published in the coming weeks.

PN general secretary Joe Saliba urged supporters to follow his party's media to ensure they had the right information to answer critics.

Mr Saliba said he had nothing against constructive criticism but argued that people should at least give credit where credit was due.