PM gives Labour 'time to decide'

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday said he wanted to give the Labour Party time to take a stand on the European Constitution so that Parliament could adopt a unanimous stand on the issue.

Addressing activists at the Nationalist Party club in Ghajnsielem, Dr Gonzi said he preferred to wait for Labour to take a stand in favour of the EU Constitution rather than "forcing" it through Parliament. He warned, however, that the government could not wait "forever".

The Prime Minister's comments come after Labour's general conference, which ended yesterday, excluded discussion on the Constitution from its agenda.

The MLP has commissioned reports on the issue and will be discussing it over the coming months, Opposition Leader Alfred Sant has said.

"They had all the time to do it at the general conference if they wanted. But we will give them time to endorse the EU Constitution just the same," Dr Gonzi said yesterday.

"The reason that the party has not yet discussed the Constitution emerged in an article written by former Labour leader Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici," Dr Gonzi said.

Writing in l-orizzont, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that the MLP wanted to postpone the discussion to after the local council elections in March due to "internal disputes", Dr Gonzi added.

He criticised the Labour members of the European Parliament for not having supported the European Constitution in the vote during the Strasbourg plenary session last week. "Of the three Labour MEPs, two abstained and one did not even turn up," Dr Gonzi noted.

Dr Gonzi pointed out that the Constitution provided for Malta to have a sixth seat in the European Parliament. "This means that the Labour MEPs did not support a document which Alfred Sant and George Vella had worked for, together with the Maltese government representatives, at the European Convention before accession," he added.

Speaking of Gozo and its needs, he said the government wanted to kick-start the island's economy with projects such as Chambray and the Mgarr terminal, on which works should resume at the beginning of March and which was expected to be completed by next year. He said the government had budgeted Lm15 million for the ferry terminal.

Dr Gonzi noted that the helicopter service would also resume in March, thanks to a new agreement the government signed with a Spanish company.

He said the island was at the heart of the national tourism strategy. Gems of world status such as the Ggantija temples were situated in Gozo, he said, adding that the government was doing its utmost to upgrade historic sites so as to improve the tourist product.