Muscat asks supporters not to ignore EP elections

Labour leader Joseph Muscat this morning acknowledged that many in the party still doubted Malta's achievements in the EU.

Speaking during a discussion meeting in Rabat, he spoke on the forthcoming European Parliament elections saying that these would not be easy for Labour.

“We are starting from a position of defeat. We lost the last general election and we have to face the fact that many Labour supporters are disillusioned and believe their vote will not make a difference."

There were still Labour supporters who doubted Malta's achievements in the EU. "We have to convince them that we have made a difference with our work in the union,” Dr Muscat said adding that his party was committed to Malta in the EU.

Dr Muscat returned to the St John’s CoCathedral’s museum extension saga saying that last week he visited the Police Commissioner giving him details about an internal meeting within the Nationalist Party during which two ministers made worrying declarations.

One had said that funds for the project had been promised because there were those who knew how to play the game and another had said undue pressure was made regarding the project.

The Labour leader said he gave the commissioner the names of the two courageous ministers. He hoped they would show more courage than they had already shown and tell the commissioner who knew how to play the game and who had pressured public officials.

He said he would not give any further details about the case in public so as not to hinder investigations.

Dr Muscat also referred to the Hexagon House saga, which saw Mepa employees being hospitalised because of dangerous gases in this building. He said that following this incident he was shocked to learn that the Marsa mayor had been reporting that these gases were bothering neighbours for ages and being told that a problem did not exist.

The Labour leader called for an inquiry to find out who had come to this decision and to see whether any Marsa residents had been taken ill as a result of the gases. Such matters, he said were not acceptable and the people had to be treated equally.

Earlier, Dr Muscat congratulated President George Abela saying that he was a president of all Maltese and Gozitans.

His presidency, Dr Muscat said, would bring about several challenges. One such challenge was unity - at particular moments people wanted unity, they wanted politicians to do politics without politics. Other challenges were employment, the laity of the state for it to respect the beliefs of the majority and minorities and a reform of the Community Chest Fund.

He said that the best thing for the moment was to let President and Mrs Abela settle and develop the Presidency away from politics.

Dr Muscat thanked the thousands who gathered at Vittoriosa last Monday for the Freedom Day celebrations.

“We never expected such massive participation... I felt overwhelmed.”

Dr Muscat said that the occasion filled Labour with courage and showed that this progressive movement had really taken ground.

But: “We cannot stop here and we have to go for other important appointments. Our first appointment is May 1 and we will be there in our thousands,” he said.

Dr Muscat promised he would continue to praise positive developments in the country. Such was the new investment leading to the expansion of Lufthansa Technik, an investment embarked upon during the Labour administration of 1997.

He pointed out that although the Prime Minister boasted that 7,000 new jobs had been created, these were of the kind where people work more and earn less. It was a shame that state contracts were still being given to contractors paying their workers less than the minimum wage, he pointed out.

The Labour leader spoke about the recent 35 per cent increase in gas prices and said that the government had plans to further increase the rates after the EP elections.

Dr Muscat said that after spending months saying that subsidies incentivised waste, the government was now saying that although the Malta Resources Authority had approved higher gas rates, it was to continue partly subsidising gas because it had a social conscience.

But where was the government’s social conscience in the water and electricity rates, he asked.