The institutions set up in the country to ensure correctness should not be undermined and should be allowed to operate without anybody’s influence, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said morning.
Closing the party’s general council, which started meeting on Friday, the Prime Minister criticised the Labour Party saying that those who described themselves as “progressives”, were not forward looking at all.
They had not wanted the European Union and the euro, they had not wanted the country to respond to the rising cost of oil and had it been for them, the necessary reforms or changes would not have been carried out.
“We believe in the necessity of carrying out all changes necessary. The future is full of challenges but we see these as opportunities,” Dr Gonzi said.
Although he did not mention the office of the Auditor General specifically, the Prime Minister said that institutions set up in the country to ensure correctness should not be undermined and should be allowed to operate without anybody’s influence.
The AG recently investigated the BWSC contract for the extension of the Delimara Power Station, which the opposition now wants investigated by the Public Affairs Committee.
The Prime Minister spoke on the current situation saying that economies the world over were still going through tough times with millions of families suffering because of the financial crisis.
“The crisis is not yet over, the dangers are still there and it is at this point necessary more than ever before to take wise decisions,” he said.
Dr Gonzi said that what used to be taken forgranted was no longer guaranteed and could easily be lost. One could easily lose his job, wage or pension, for example. These were the realities other countries were facing and they were trying to find reasons for what happened.
Thousands of workers in Malta had had their job on a string only a few months ago because of this crisis and the government’s intervention had been necessary to safeguard jobs.
This had been detrimental to the deficit and the water and electricity rates had also gone up. But the government provided assistance for the weakest 30,000 families so that they would be able to pay their bills.
Dr Gonzi said that political choices built on values pushed the government to decide according to what was right and what tough decisions had to be taken.
Another tough decision which had had to be taken was that sending former Drydocks employees on early retirement. But many of these workers were now gainfully employed with other companies, including SR Technics.
The closure of the loss making enterprise had provided the government with the finance required to safe thousands of jobs without bringing the country on its knees.
The budget presented last Monday, he said, was building upon the measures the government took last year to continue safeguarding jobs and pensions while investing in education and other sectors.
The government was not afraid of challenges and of changing whatever needed to be changed, he said.
At the beginning of his address, Dr Gonzi paid tribute to the late President Guido de Marco, who died last month and the late Prime Minister George Borg Olivier, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his demise.