Robert Abela underlined his socialist principles when concluding Labour’s general conference on Sunday, saying all his actions and those of the government were motivated by socialist ideals.

Speaking at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, the prime minister outlined his vision for the next 10 years and insisted the people’s concerns were his own, including the influx of foreigners, traffic, the need for quality tourism and a better environment.

The Labour mayor of Gzira, Conrad Borg  Manché, resigned on Saturday, saying Labour was no longer socialist.  Abela – and other speakers before him - made no direct reference to the resignation, but Abela said Labour’s socialist roots were as strong as ever.

He made one of his references to Labour’s socialist belief when he reiterated the government’s plan to regulate temping agencies – the companies which bring foreign workers to Malta.

“People are not a business, we must have the people who are needed, where they are needed,” he said.

He also said that mindful of the people’s concerns, he had asked the relevant authorities to consider the situation regarding the importation of medicines with a view to announcing a downward revision of prices in the coming weeks.

Abela focused much of his 45-minute speech to the next 10 years. He said he was proud of what had been achieved in the past 10 years and was focused on his vision for the next decade.

He told an enthusiastic crowd that Labour had inherited a country that was limping along and it transformed it into one which was galloping forward.

He listed various achievements including higher pensions, a strengthened middle class, free childcare, inclusivity and having fewer people reliant on social benefits.   

“We can go forward as our foundations are strong,” he said.

Challenges of the future

The challenges for the future, he said, included raising living standards and improving the environment, such as through the provision of more green areas.

The government was also aiming at strengthening the economy by attracting investment in high added-value activities such as e-gaming and fintech, that paid more to the workforce.

 “We want companies focused on the quality of the workers, not quantity,” he said.

Prime Minister Robert Abela speaking on Sunday.

The economy, he said, was in a transitional phase, but thankfully, the change was being made from a position of strength.

This was a government that had the courage to take tough decisions for the present and the future, as evidenced at Air Malta where the government had guaranteed that Malta would continue to have a national airline, something other countries had failed to do.

Other challenges, he said, included cleaner energy and quality tourism now that Malta had achieved the numbers it needed.

Regulating foreign workers and the building industry

He underlined the need to regulate companies that bring in foreign workers (temping agencies). “People are not a business, we must have the people who are needed, where they are needed,” he said.

He also underlined the need for discipline on the roads. He said the government had courageously taken decisions to regulate ‘Y’ plates and would continue the process.

There was also no space for cowboys in the building industry. Contractors would be licensed and those who did not work in a serious manner would face government action.

An overriding government principle, he said, was not to burden the people, something that distinguished it from the PN. An example was the energy sector where the PN would burden the people with market prices, while the present government would continue to assist businesses and families.

Another example was medicines and he had asked the relevant authorities to consider the situation with a view to announcing a downward revision of prices in the coming weeks.

Abela underlined the importance of the forthcoming local and EP elections in June, describing them as crucial.

“We will work every day to win the people’s confidence,” he said. We can and we will get the future right” Abela said, but all needed to remain united while others, a reference to the PN, could not come up with alternatives and were only bent at harming Malta’s name abroad. Such practices, he said, would not be tolerated. 

The prime minister made no reference to the benefit fraud and driving tests scandal but said that the harder the party was attacked, the tougher, stronger and more united it became.

Party president Ramona Attard and MP Glenn Bedingfield urged supporters to not let "attacks" from the media dishearten them.