A PN government would make Gozo economically strong without negatively impacting its environment, Bernard Grech said on Sunday.

Addressing supporters in Xagħra, the PN leader said the government had become tired and lacked vision, and the time was ripe for PN to take the lead again and offer a change of direction.

Under a PN government, he said, Gozitans would live a dignified life and enjoy a myriad of opportunities to move forward, as would the rest of the population.

"Gozo is not some experiment. Nor does it belong to some greedy developers. It is the home of thousands of hard-working, tenacious families," he said.

"We are Gozo's party. Gozo is truly a priority for us in social and economic decisions," he said.

Grech said Labour was not addressing the people's needs and its economic model had failed. It had put the country under the burden of excessive debt that was affecting the people's lives.

"Sometimes people ask why I don't have anything good to say. How can I say that the situation is good when the environment is being harmed, debt is growing, crime is rising, we feel less safe, young people struggle to buy their homes and others want to leave the country altogether? Where is the success there?" he said. 

"The country needs to change direction and the PN's economic vision of excellence does this because it shifts the focus from quantity to quality."

A PN government, he said, would make decisions that respect what people cherish the most.

The PN cherishes people - not just Nationalists - entrepreneurs, the environment, animals, the future, the language, identity and Malta's historic world heritage, he said, pointing to the Ġgantija temples.

"If we really want to protect Ġgantija we must take decisions in that direction. There should be no compromises with what we believe," he said in reference to a Planning Authority decision to allow the building of an apartment block metres from the world heritage site.

He said the government was making another Malta out of Gozo, with traffic congestion, a failing infrastructure, unbridled construction and overpopulation already taking a toll on the small island.

"Do we want Gozo to become a second Malta? Do we want the problems created by the PL in Malta to come to Gozo as well? Can't we learn from the mistakes we made in Malta and not repeat them here? Isn't this country able to learn from its mistakes?" he asked.

"To me, the decisions are not easy, but simple. We cannot lose what we cherish," he said.