'Tranquil' change to Labour

Labour's 'Coach of Change' hit Gozo yesterday, driving its leader Alfred Sant and his entourage on a whistle-stop tour of six localities, where he conveyed his message in favour of a "tranquil" change to Labour.

Gozo was "stagnant", but Dr Sant said he was determined to give the island a shove to move ahead, accelerating work, opportunities and investment.

The only sizeable crowd that met Dr Sant was at a housing estate in Rabat, where he said Gozo needed a specific development plan.

Tourism had been left to stagnate and the island had as many beds for tourists as one middle-sized hotel in Malta, he said, adding that a Labour Government would work on the situation.

It would subsidise the helicopter service, while the Nationalist Party seemed to have no idea how to move ahead on that front.

In Qala, where he first met up with the honking coach, he told a cluster of supporters that every Labour proposal revolved around the importance of the family and the protection of children for the future, insisting that every family was precious and deserved an improved life.

Dr Sant urged them to pass on the message to those who still needed to be convinced, while respecting those who did not agree.

During the tour, he also embarked on a spontaneous walk-about in the heart of Rabat, where he quickly popped in and out of bars, surrounded by those who accompanied him on the trip, spending the longest time alone in a charity shop, selecting second-hand books for himself.

The last stop was Għajnsielem, where, as Dr Sant reiterated that no one should be left by the wayside, a visibly irritated general secretary Jason Micallef stormed off the podium to push aside a "drunk" person in the front-row of the audience.