Gonzi finds Labour MEPs' values worrying

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday he was worried about having Labour MEPs represent the values of the Maltese public in the European Parliament.

He said the Labour Party (PL) was using particular adjectives to describe its policies and these could mean more than meets the eye. This was in sharp contrast to what the Nationalist Party was doing. The PN had always been open and proud of the values it upheld.

He constantly referred to the question of values throughout his speech but he also criticised Labour's track record.

"I am embarrassed for the Labour MEPs. They spent five years warming their benches and wasting Malta's time. They were completely absent and lost their chance to make a constructive difference," he said during an extraordinary general conference at the PN headquarters in Pietà.

Dr Gonzi said he was proud of the 10 candidates his party was presenting for the June 6 EP election because they were each backed by a strong moral fibre.

He referred to the ongoing dispute with doctors at health centres and said that the wellbeing of patients was the first priority and should not be compromised when industrial disputes arose.

From Monday, three of Malta's health centres will be closed while a fourth will be open only on half days as a result of doctors' actions which come in protest against staff shortages.

Dr Gonzi said that disputes were not the end of the world and could be resolved by sitting around a table and trying to find a solution. But in the most recent cases, lack of agreement was spreading and this was starting to affect the weak and the sick. In such circumstances, everyone should take a step or two back in order to find solutions, he said.

Although Mater Dei Hospital had the most sophisticated equipment available, he admitted there were still problems at the emergency department and waiting lists were still too long.

"We want to employ more doctors and nurses but this is becoming increasingly difficult because Maltese medical personnel are so good they are being poached abroad."

The government had proposed to work more closely with the private sector until the problems were solved.

Dr Gonzi said the global economy was showing signs of improvement, so people who feared for their jobs should take courage.

While the PL was trying to make people give up by talking about the growing deficit, the government remained adamant that the deficit could continue to grow and taxpayers' money could continue to be used in order to defend, generate and safeguard jobs.

The PL later said that although only €3.7 million was used to safeguard jobs, during this period the deficit had risen by €55 million. Even the European Commission said the exploding deficit was not a result of the economic circumstances, the PL noted.

Dr Gonzi also spoke about immigration and the need to improve the situation with more cooperation from other countries and organisations such as UNHCR.

"Do you think we enjoy seeing immigrants living in tents exposed to the heat, the cold, the wind and the rain?" he asked, explaining that the government was facing huge difficulties in its bid to improve the conditions at detention and open centres.

He warned that if Nationalist supporters were to stay home on June 6, the PN would once again be left with a maximum of two seats in the European Parliament.

All of the party's 10 candidates addressed the conference. The youngest candidate, Alan Deidun, praised the work of incumbents Simon Busuttil and David Casa and said that, in the future, once Dr Gonzi retired from politics, the party would eventually see Dr Busuttil as its leader.

The party's 50-point electoral manifesto for the EP elections was unanimously approved.