The government has been delivering results in every sector, proving that its policies and vision were bringing success, while the MLP has a record of failure, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
By 2009/2010, barring any hiccups, it could be a case of talking about a surplus, not a deficit, which would be down to zero. The country would actually be saving money, Dr Gonzi said.
Malta was already experiencing a surplus on its day-to-day expenses, while the one-off expenses, such as Mater Dei Hospital, would be over by next year.
Yet the MLP was always painting a "disastrous" picture of Malta, so how was so much foreign investment (a record Lm550 million last year alone) being pumped into the country and jobs generated?
Not only did the MLP portray a negative image of the island's situation, but it also put spokes in the wheels of any project and never assisted in negotiations that were for the good of the country, Dr Gonzi said, unable to understand the reasoning. Even in terms of acquiring funding from Europe, Opposition leader Alfred Sant never gave any support, but just tried to confuse matters.
Until six months ago, he was still maintaining that the Labour Party had won the EU referendum. "Someone from his party should tell him to stop saying rubbish, but everyone seems to be afraid to," Dr Gonzi said, adding that the MLP was always afraid of and against any major change, starting from Independence to EU membership.
The Prime Minister was speaking at a dialogue led by The Malta Independent deputy editor Michael Carabott in Naxxar.
He said the International Monetary Fund had recently strongly recommended against the devaluing of currency for countries to remain competitive - the opposite of the advice the Opposition leader had given the Prime Minister two years ago.
But Dr Gonzi had not listened to him and held firm. Had he heeded his advice, or had Dr Sant become Prime Minister, the Maltese would have earned 10 per cent less and paid more for imported items.
Dr Sant, therefore, could not be trusted with the country's leadership, as he was always taking only wrong decisions and stands, Dr Gonzi said, adding that it was hard to find a single good decision he had taken since he became leader of the MLP. And yet, he had never learnt from his mistakes.
Achieving solid finances meant the country could spread its investments more and according to its needs; it meant that funding was found when it was required.
Now, the government was working to foster solid families, with more family-friendly measures being proposed in the next budget targeting pensioners, young couples and families with many children. A leaflet would soon be issued to households for the last suggestions from the public, following a lengthy consultation process.
Dr Gonzi said research and development was a "golden opportunity" for everyone and that the EU had just allocated billions of euros, over and above the funding Malta was entitled to, for the use of countries that come up with good R&D projects.
On the subject of education, he said Lm200,000 had once again been awarded in the form of scholarships to 51 post-graduate students to continue their studies in Malta, or overseas, in a variety of courses, ranging from autism to biotechnology.
In the IT sector, Malta had managed to be at the forefront in Europe, where it was being classified in second place, although its ambition was to reach the first.
Yesterday's talk was also addressed by young PN candidate Janice Chetcuti, a teacher, who focused on the importance of the environment and education, and Jason Azzopardi, chairman of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, who described its role.
Dr Gonzi said they were driven by strong values and did not think up their polices when they woke up in the morning, only to do a complete U-turn somewhere down the line.