MLP supporter appeals to people to "vote for EU"
The Labour Party's electoral manifesto contained a serious threat to salaries, Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami said yesterday.
Speaking at a mass meeting in Mosta, Dr Fenech Adami referred to a paragraph in the manifesto which promises to maintain a sustainable balance between the cost of labour and competitiveness.
Labour was here showing that if elected to government it would be prepared to interfere and decide on wage levels, the prime minister said.
He compared this to deputy MLP leader George Vella's statement that "God forbid salaries are increased".
"This is a clear danger to workers' standard of living and wages," the prime minister said, contrasting the proposal with the PN's programme on creating work and wealth and the creation of 14,000 new jobs over the past four-and-a-half years.
He appealed to the Maltese to read and understand the "signs of the times" and decide that Malta's place was in the European Union.
He said the MLP refused to read the signs of the times, even though every other European country had understood that its place was in the EU and that the right road was the one that united them.
Opposition leader Alfred Sant was used to taking decisions on his own but had he consulted his friends and carried out a serious analysis in the country's interest he would have removed his prejudices towards the EU and read the signs of the times, Dr Fenech Adami said.
The majority of the Maltese and every organisation that represented civil society had said that Malta's place was in the EU, he told the crowds, stressing that the upcoming election was the most important since Independence was gained.
Dr Fenech Adami said the MLP's electoral programme was a good laugh, replete with empty, vain, meaningless and even worrying words.
As regards tourism, which Labour had pledged to improve, Dr Fenech Adami asked the MLP who it thought it was fooling.
It was those who operated in the industry who knew best and they - the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association - had taken a strong stand in favour of EU membership.
In its electoral programme, the "fortune-tellers, professors and stars" intended to work miracles and to do so alone.
MLP supporters should be questioning why Dr Sant had not been capable of governing when he was prime minister; and why he had fought with and lost so many members of the party.
On April 16, Malta's prime minister was invited to sign the accession treaty in Athens but Dr Sant had said he would not do so after Malta had travelled down the long road of negotiations.
The prime minister said he had hoped Dr Sant would have respected the country's opinion and sign the treaty were he to win the forthcoming election.
Dr Sant did not have the country's interest in mind and only wanted to retain his position within the party, the prime minister said.
Dr Fenech Adami invited the MLP to compare its achievements with the government's, mentioning that the Nationalists had managed to generate a record 14,000 jobs over the last four years while in the MLP's 22 months of government unemployment had risen.
The MLP's billboards read Aktar xoghol (more work) but the question was how that would be achieved by the Labour Party when every economist has said the economy would decline if Malta did not join the EU.
"Do not let Dr Sant deceive you. We have experienced him, and his policies are wrong and dangerous," Dr Fenech Adami said.
In Brussels last week, everyone had congratulated Malta for its referendum result, despite the political divide, and expressed confidence in the results of the upcoming election.
Malta was currently the focus of many countries, Dr Fenech Adami said. If the PN lost the election, Malta would lose its credibility and would not be considered a serious country. Those who had invested in it would have to reassess their situation, while others who were considering would wait and see.
Labour supporters who had voted to join the EU would not allow Dr Sant to take them for a ride, Manwel Calleja, a Labour supporter, said in his address at the mass meeting. Mr Calleja, a driver for a private company, said he would be voting for the PN and that he was addressing the crowd for the sake of his son's future.
"I was, am and will remain a Labour supporter but my heart is with you because Europe is our future," he told the meeting.
He appealed to other Labour supporters in his position to think with their minds and vote for the EU.
The mass meeting was also addressed by university students and graduates, a mother with a part-time job, an HSBC employee and a housewife, who recounted their own experiences and expressed their positive opinions of EU membership, encouraging the public to take the right decision in the nation's interest.