Labour will act like the Nationalists

Labour Leader Alfred Sant yesterday defended the party's general secretary's recent "government for Labourites" speech, saying Jason Micallef was simply assuring Labourites that "we would be acting in the same way as the Nationalists have done".

Dr Sant would not specify what he meant by "acting like the Nationalists", saying only, when asked, "look around you and you'll see".

The Nationalist media has been hammering Mr Micallef over a speech he made at a party activity, a film of which was posted on YouTube by a Labour supporter.

"We will be a government for all Maltese and Gozitans," Mr Micallef can be seen saying in the video clip. "But here we are Labourites among friends. I tell you we will also be a government for Labourites and we will do justice to Labourites in the first few months."

Answering questions by The Times, Dr Sant stressed that Mr Micallef had preceded his comment by saying that Labour would be a government for Maltese and Gozitans, later specifying that it will also be a government for Labourites. "God forbid if we're not a government even for Labourites," he said.

When asked if he felt it was a partisan comment, Dr Sant said Mr Micallef "was assuring Labourites that we would be acting in the same way as the Nationalists have done".

On the same lines, he defended similar comments made by former Labour Minister Freddie Micallef during the same event.

"I think Freddie Micallef's comments conform with those of PN politicians," he said.

In an interview with The Times last Saturday, Mr Micallef described the Nationalists' reaction to his controversial speech as cheap propaganda on a "non-issue". He has now sued PN media for libel, insisting that nowhere in his speech did he imply that a new Labour government would discriminate against those who do not sympathise with the party.

"I used the same tone I have always used - that we should have a government for all the Maltese, based on meritocracy," Mr Micallef said. "There is nothing wrong in saying that we won't exclude the Labourites this time around."