There’s hope, Muscat says

A vote for the Labour Party would change the disastrous state of affairs in the country, run by a government that lost its social conscience and was getting its priorities wrong, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

Addressing thousands of people who gathered in Valletta to protest against the rising cost of living, Dr Muscat, clearly in election mode, said he was not there to complain but to show them there was hope.

“I did not come to Valletta to complain but to show you that there is a ray of hope. If you trust us with the administration of this country, I will be there to carry the burden with you and help you. Only a vote to the Labour Party can change things around,” he said.

He said the government’s priorities were all wrong, especially the €600-a-week increase Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and his Cabinet members gave themselves at a time when the government was calling on people to make sacrifices.

“For the government, a new Parliament and a roofless theatre is a priority but for us the priority is to increase the number of beds at Mater Dei Hospital,” he said.

The money could have been invested in improving pavements, rebuilding roads, carrying out more operations and offering the facilitator service to those children who needed it or improving working conditions for the police, he added.

Dr Muscat complained about the higher water and electricity rates, especially without the energy benefit granted last year, the double rise in the cost of gas and that in the cost of fuel, including a 3c increase in excise duty.

He said his party, once in power, would invest in alternative energy, introduce transparency in the purchasing of oil, reduce dependency on oil by switching the new power station extension from heavy fuel oil to gas, introduce more transparency in the calculation of water and electricity bills, increase competitiveness in the energy sector, take concrete action against the unjustified price increases and assist all 150,000 families rather than just 25,000.

People who attended the protest march carried anti-government placards, especially with messages against Dr Gonzi and comments about the €600-a-week rise.

Referring to Dr Gonzi, he said his solidarity “appeared to start at his desk and stop right outside by the cannon of Castille”.

He paid tribute to previous governments: “This was not the country former Prime Minister Nerik Mizzi dreamt of, an example of Christian democracy who died in office in poverty, or the independent country George Borg Olivier dreamt of, or the country Dom Mintoff dedicated his life to,” he said. “Vote Labour and this will change.”