Malta is economically among the best five or six countries within the EU primarily because the government did not listen to the Labour Party on core issues, according to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

Interviewed on Radio 101, Nationalist Party station, Dr Gonzi said Malta was out of the recession whereas countries like Greece and Spain were still in crisis.

The main reason for Malta's stability was that the government chose EU membership, joined the eurozone and implemented crucial reforms, all against the advice of the PL, he said.

Dr Gonzi lambasted the opposition for not changing the substance of its politics and choosing only to focus on cosmetic changes. "Their latest demonstration reminded us of the ugly times. They just change faces and wear masks but the ugliness within remains," he warned.

Dr Gonzi accused the PL of abandoning the country and choosing only to gain political mileage by taking advantage of difficult situations. "This is their tradition. Just because you change the leader, nothing changes," he added.

Dr Gonzi said Malta's unemployment rate was between five and seven per cent, depending on whether one relied on the unemployment registry or EU surveys. Other EU countries had much higher unemployment rates, with Spain and Greece posting rates of 20 and 12 per cent respectively.

Dr Gonzi said his political programme Vision 2015, aimed at transforming Malta into a centre of excellence, was well on track and things were recovering faster than he had initially predicted.

One of the country's biggest problems was that it did not have enough human resources in areas ranging from accounting to teaching but this showed that the economy was growing and demand was on the increase.

The government has focused on removing "wasted subsidies", attracting investment to generate employment and training the workforce.

Malta was quickly becoming a leader in the aviation maintenance industry and in the financial services sector.

Dr Gonzi acknowledged that the government had made mistakes but it had the humility to admit such mistakes, such as when it came to the White Paper on healthcare.

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