Updated: Adds comment on Pullicino Orlando's party at Mistra

The European Parliament elections were not being viewed as a vote of confidence in the government, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this afternoon.

The vote was about selecting the people to represent Malta in the European Parliament, Dr Gonzi told a press conference at the end of the PN electoral campaign.

He added that the government would take cognisance of the indications which came out of the vote. He knew of groups of people who had been negatively affected by the government's decisions. These concerns would be heard. As from Monday, the government would continue to take the necessary decisions for the country to overcome the challenges it faced.

The government on Sunday and beyond would continue to do its duty in running the country in the best national interest and would courageously address the country's problems, he said.

Earlier, Dr Gonzi said the PN was heading to the elections on a record of having taken tough decisions from which the country ultimately benefited.

It was proud to have steered Malta towards EU membership which had been shown to be beneficial for Malta, not least for the jobs market, with 20,000 jobs having been created in the past five years and foreign investment having reached new records.

"We promised jobs in a modern economy prepared for the challenges of the future, and we delivered," Dr Gonzi said.

He also pointed out how the government's decision to opt for early euro adoption had proven to be correct, helping Malta to cushion the blows of the international economic and financial crises which were still being felt.

The government had had to take difficult decisions, as in the case of the water and power tariffs, although he admitted that matters could have been handled better.

Other decisions included the public transport reform and the hunting issue.

On the former, Dr Gonzi said the government would seek the best solution which gave the people the best service while considering issues raised by the bus owners.

On hunting, he said the government was standing firm in its position, in the European Court, that what was agreed five years ago during the accession talks should be respected.

The PL, Dr Gonzi said, was telling the people to send a signal to the government on Saturday. But it was not proposing solutions.

Four years ago, the signal the PL gave was that it was too early to adopt the euro, just as it was against EU membership. The truth was, however, that if the country had heeded the PL, it would have driven itself into the wall.

The government, he said, had a responsibility to face difficult decisions. It was therefore important that the people chose the best people to represent them in the European Parliament.

He said there were four main pillars which the voters should consider, of which the most important was jobs. Jobs, he said, came from credibility and stability, but the Labour MEPs had even been confused in their voting on workers' right for overtime.

The second pillar was solidarity, including making good use of the €1.5 billion in EU funds, a far cry from the Lm1.5 million which Labour had said Malta would receive from the EU. The immigration issue also fell within this pillar. Those migrants who merited assistance should find it, and he was glad that Frontex had agreed to help Malta repatriate migrants, a very important step within the context of the Immigration Pact which Dr Muscat had said Malta should not sign.

Solidarity also meant helping the weak in society, manifested, recently with the major achievement made in EU talks for Malta not to be required to charge VAT on medicines and food.

And health services would remain free of charge, Dr Gonzi said. Just this week the Finance Ministry approved spending of €250,000 for medicines to 14 cancer patients.

Dr Gonzi denied that the government had not kept its promise to cut income tax. It did so in the past three years and would do so again once the economy recovered, he said. The cuts so far had left €152 million in the people's pockets.

Issue three, Dr Gonzi said, was the environment. The PL said it was in favour of the environment, yet it resisted the modernisation of Sant Antnin plant, and when the wind farms were mentioned, its first question was about who would be affected. Again, no solution were forthcoming.

Values, Dr Gonzi said, were also very important and a distinguishing feature of the PN. This included respect for life from conception, for the family and for human relations. Here too, the PN MEPs had been consistent in Malta as well as abroad.

Addressing himself to those who had not decided whether or not to vote on Saturday, Dr Gonzi said there was no doubt that some felt the governemnt could have done better. The government was open to improvement, this legislature had another four years to run. Difficult decisions had had to be taken, but the record of the past showed that those decisions were beneficial for the country.

The choice should be made in the interests of the county, Dr Gonzi said.

MISTRA PARTY

Replying to a question on a party held by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando on his land in Mistra, Dr Gonzi said the party was held after permits were sought from the competent authorities.

Once Malta had the necessary authorities, he did not interfere in their operations unless the law was broken. Should the law be broken, he would insist on the appropriate action being taken.

In this particular case, an application was submitted and the what could be done according to the authorities was done.