Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that while the governemnt would remain in saddle after the European Parliament elections, June 6 was still a very important day for Malta since the people would need to choose the people to represent them abroad.
MEPs were, first and foremost, Maltese and they were Malta’s voice in an important EU institution, Dr Gonzi said. The way they acted had a bearing on the nation and the way it was viewed by foreigners
Dr Gonzi said the government’s focus remained on the priorities of the country, particularly job creation. It had taken decisions over the past weeks to make the country more attractive and a more competitive investment destination, and this process would continue after June 6.
Nonetheless, mistaken decisions on June 6 could hurt the country, Dr Gonzi said.
Giving examples how the country could be harmed by decisions taken in the European Parliament, Dr Gonzi recalled that the Party of European Socialists, of which the PL formed part, had wanted to restrict workers to a maximum working week of 48 hours, thus restricting their right to overtime. The PN and the PPE of which it formed part, said No.
Dr Gonzi said it was scandalous how last week, of the three Labour MEPs, only one managed to vote in favour of changes to the Dublin II Regulation on illegal immigration and on making burden sharing mandatory.
How could he, as Prime Minister, convince anyone abroad that immigration was a huge problem in Malta, when two out of the three Labour MEPs were unable to vote in favour of measures from which Malta would benefit?
The PL needed to explain how two of its MEPs had been unable give a straight yes in the vote, Dr Gonzi said. The PL also needed to apologise.
One could perhaps acknowledge that people made mistakes sometimes. But one could also wonder whether some MEPs actually knew what they were voting about, Dr Gonzi said.
Such inconsistent voting had happened before by the Labour MEPs and there were several occasions where, in issues of national importance, the Labour MEPs made a mistake, did not vote or abstained.
This should not be allowed to continue to happen and the people, on June 6, had to elect to the European Parliament people who they could trust and who knew what they were doing, Dr Gonzi said.
In his address the Prime Minister insisted that Malta would hold firm on immigration and would tackle this issue but would tackle this issue with reason with sensitivity.
He also underlined the PN's commitment to human values, including the value of the family.