Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this afternoon that the MLP, instead of offering a vision for the future, was using the electoral campaign for mudslinging.

Speaking at a Nationalist Party mass meeting on the granaries, Dr Gonzi said this electoral campaign had brought out the differences between the PN and the MLP.

The PN had made 353 proposals for a better future while the MLP was characterised by emptiness and mudslinging, he said.

Referring to the revelation by the MLP of reports which it said showed that the government had planned to introduce healthcare costs, Dr Gonzi said he could produce a dozen reports on healthcare, but the bottom line, as he always said, was that the government should be judged by its actions, and it had not, and would not, introduce healthcare payments or taxes. Indeed, this was a case of Dr Sant accusing the government of what Labour had actually done while in government.

Dr Gonzi urged his listeners to compare the two parties. The PN had created wealth and jobs, the MLP was showing a lack of confidence in the Maltese, he said. The PN wanted to introduce more education opportunities, the MLP was proposing a repeater class; the PN was proposing income tax cuts, the MLP was proposing overtime at flat rates; the PN had taken Malta into the EU and made a success of it, the MLP had done its best to keep Malta out and wanted to reopen the accession package.

The PN government had an employment record and had achieved a better quality of life for the people. The MLP, on the other hand, was trying to make the people forget its 22 months in government, Dr Gonzi said.