One year on, Gonzi says he hasn't faded in the background

A confident-looking Prime Minister yesterday was at pains to show that his "strong pair of hands" were still at the rudder, a year after almost single-handedly winning the general election for his party.

Addressing a range of issues that characterised the first year of his second legislature, Lawrence Gonzi said no other government had undertaken so many reforms at one go in a single year. He did, however, praise the changes brought about by successive Nationalist governments in the past.

No new policy decisions were announced during the press briefing.

In a comment to The Times after the briefing, Dr Gonzi insisted that even though the general perception was that he faded into the background after the election, he was there all along throughout the reforms initiated in various sectors.

With make-up and hairstyle by Cut Coiffure, Dr Gonzi stood alone on a podium bedecked by the Maltese and European Union flags, reminiscent of the press conferences he delivered throughout the election campaign.

Next to him was a banner with the slogan "Diligently we will get there together" (Flimkien naslu b'ghaqal).

The ministers and parliamentary secretaries were seated in front of him.

In a lengthy introduction, Dr Gonzi did not mention any minister by name even though he thanked his small Cabinet for shouldering the responsibility of reforming the country.

The Prime Minister's main focus was the need to protect jobs at a time of global economic turmoil, which he described as being "worse than the Great Depression" of the 1930s.

He admitted that it was unlikely for the country to reach the EU's Lisbon employment criteria to have 70 per cent of the adult population working in the next decade.

A recent report suggested that the government's own 2015 vision to turn Malta into a centre of excellence only had the potential to generate 30,000 new jobs, far short of the Lisbon targets.

"The 30,000 jobs will be generated in the seven areas of excellence we identified but the economy is made up of more sectors that have the potential of creating other jobs," he said, adding that 70,000 new jobs was a difficult target to reach and he believed that the Lisbon targets had to be revised in view of the global challenges.

Buoyed by the fact that 7,000 new jobs were generated just last year despite the economic turmoil, Dr Gonzi insisted that the government would keep its feet on the ground ready to exploit all opportunities and niche areas.

He made a passing reference to the minimal cut in income tax in the last budget but avoided mentioning the electoral promise to slash the top rate to 25 per cent from the present 35 per cent threshold.

He highlighted the reforms started during 2008 and would carry on throughout this year mentioning the Malta Shipyards' privatisation, the rent law, liberalisation in the transport sector, changes in the education system and reform of the energy sector.

When asked whether he had any regrets, Dr Gonzi referred to the water and electricity tariffs issue, which has dragged on till this very day. "With hindsight we could have tackled it better but we need to make a culture change and pay for what we consume. It is part of a wider reform that has to make us competitive in the energy sector by 2015, otherwise the country will lose out," Dr Gonzi said.

He also touched upon immigration, describing it as a "big challenge". Referring to Nationalist backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando's suggestion of sending immigrants back by putting them on a boat in the direction they came from, Dr Gonzi insisted it was the government's intention to repatriate those not eligible for protection.

"We are sending back those who do not deserve protection but we are doing so using methods that respect human dignity," Dr Gonzi stressed.

He failed to address the pertinent issue of integration for those immigrants caught up in Malta, focusing only on repatriation and the efforts at an EU level to put immigration on the agenda.

When asked by The Times whether he was comfortable with Dr Pullicino Orlando, the Prime Minister said the backbencher was one of the "colours of the rainbow" that characterised his parliamentary group.

Dr Gonzi had no answer as to how the issue of hospital waiting lists was to be dealt with in the coming year. The eradication of waiting lists was an electoral promise that has haunted the Administration since the opening of the new hospital.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com