Bring on the election, says Labour leader

The Labour Party is well prepared for a general election, no matter when the Prime Minister plans to hold it, Opposition leader Alfred Sant told supporters yesterday.

The MLP was building a new alliance and was planning to meet three quarters of the electorate by the general election, Dr Sant said.

Speaking during a political activity in Dingli on the day when the Nationalist Party unveiled its first batch of candidates for the election, Dr Sant said that more people are realising they had been fooled by the Nationalists.

The last three-and-a-half years were full of disappointments and unfulfilled promises. To boast of putting the country's finances on a sound basis, the Nationalists were selling the country's best assets, including Mid-Med Bank, Maltacom and Malta International Airport.

In reality though, taxation in Malta was growing steadily and work opportunities were being squandered. Claiming that the cost of living was among the highest in the EU, Dr Sant said it was futile for the government to put the blame on international fuel prices. The government was not prepared to protect consumers' interests.

It was clear that the Nationalist government was prepared to come down hard on the working class and the middle class, but the strong and those with good connections could do as they pleased.

More and more people and organisations were also realising that the PN had lied about the implications of EU membership.

However, Dr Sant made it clear that even if his party had accepted the electorate's verdict on membership, people would be mistaken if they thought his party would be waving the EU flag.

The Labour Party was being effective in the EU from the opposition benches, and would be even stronger when in government after the coming election.

Referring to the SmartCity project, Dr Sant said he was still expecting an explanation as to why just 19 per cent of the project had been earmarked for IT with the remainder reserved for apartments and hotels.