Will prices explode after March, Labour leader asks

Investments Minister Austin Gatt should apologise publicly to Labour leader Alfred Sant for his "inhuman, insensitive and cruel actions", Labour foreign affairs spokesman Leo Brincat insisted yesterday.

"Shame on you Lawrence Gonzi... Where are your pair of strong hands if you cannot control your people, nor have the courage to correct Austin Gatt and make him apologise publicly," he said, to the applause of party supporters.

Speaking at the party's Sunday morning meetings, this time in Zabbar, Mr Brincat was referring to Dr Gatt's attack on Dr Sant during the Nationalist Party's general council, last weekend.

Dr Sant has asked the police to institute criminal libel proceedings against Dr Gatt following the speech. He himself sued Dr Gatt for libel over the same comments.

"For a PN leader who boasted of having held the post of Catholic Action Movement president, I expected better of him," he added.

He accused the PN of creating "a political apartheid" with its cliques and it was now desperately using all sorts of tactics to cling to power.

Mr Brincat said the presence of so many people gathered at the Zabbar party club was a symbol of solidarity with Dr Sant.

Applause and cheers preceded Dr Sant's speech, which focused on the cost of living burden families were facing.

"Not enough is being done to control the rising cost of living and this will be at the forefront of our agenda once we're in office," he said.

Dr Sant said the government was forging ahead as if this situation was inexistent and was merely blaming any increases on food prices to the global surge on cereals.

"We'd be lying if we said this wasn't true. However, one cannot give the impression this is the only cause behind the heavier burden on families.

"Part of it is created locally and the government has a responsibility to rein it in," he said.

He blamed the government for not doing enough in the light of the euro changeover. Getting companies to commit themselves not to raised prices until March was not enough. What would happen after March? Will prices explode, he asked.

"We are against these methods of tricking the people," he said.

He promised that, once in office, a Labour government would ensure that the agency responsible for monitoring free market and competition conditions would have more "teeth to bite with".

"This agency will conduct a report every six months, to see how prices are fluctuating on food, medicines and education. This will be handed out to the government and the opposition," he said.

"If the prices are not increasing fairly, the agency will bare its teeth so that families will not have to bear the brunt of any inefficiencies."

Dr Sant took credit for the fact that the government will be earmarking Lm1.50 (€3.49) a week to cushion the rise in the cost of living in today's budget. If he (Dr Sant) had not intervened, it would have been just 75c (€1.75), he said.

"As a party, we're already being effective in the opposition. Now that an election is looming, the government was terrified and they're doing what we proposed," he said.