See what Labour is really offering - Gonzi

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday urged the public to reflect and question the alternative economic and social proposals being broached by the Labour Party.

The opposition's role was to criticise objectively but it should also have the decency to defend its own proposals, Dr Gonzi said.

The Prime Minister was speaking during a political debate in Nadur, three weeks ahead of the local council elections.

He accused the MLP of being bent on disrupting the government's plans, even if this meant harming the well-being of the country in the process. For example, instead of supporting the government's efforts for a quick solution during the Mater Dei Hospital negotiations, the MLP did its utmost to create obstacles and hurl allegations. The same thing happened when the Gozo helicopter contract was being negotiated, Dr Gonzi said.

He challenged the MLP to explain its proposals on the economy in detail rather than float ideas in public and then pretend there was nothing specific. The MLP had, for example, proposed the building of four waste recycling plants, without saying where these would be located.

Dr Gonzi said he was convinced that Malta could forge ahead, and perform even better than other EU countries, if it eliminated the obstacles being created by some just to gain political mileage.

He asked the MLP to reflect on the reality of EU membership and question whether its predictions of doom and gloom did in fact materialise. Contrary to the MLP's claims, the country was already getting millions of liri in aid and was lending its voice to the European institution.

Dr Gonzi laughed off Opposition Leader Alfred Sant's policy of giving maximum points to Labour-led local councils and poor marks to those with a Nationalist majority. The MLP, he said, was simply discriminating against local councils according to their colour. "This is an insult to both residents and councillors."