Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this evening that he is convinced that during the next general election the people will again choose the Nationalist Party to lead them forward.

Answering questions about comments made yesterday by Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt, Dr Gonzi said it would be a mistake to take matters for granted and assume that the PN will be in government for the next 20 years.

However, Dr Gonzi said, he was sure that when the next general elections arrived the Nationalist Party would be handing over to the people a country that was better and stronger.

In light of this, he said, "I am convinced that, when the moment arrives, the people will choose the Nationalist Party to lead them again."

Dr Gatt said yesterday that he was sure the people will continue to chose the PN for their government for the next 20 years.

Dr Gonzi was speaking during a public discussion held as part of the Independence festivities at the Granaries in Floriana.

Answering questions by The Malta Independent managing editor Stephen Calleja, Dr Gonzi said that while the PN was not perfect and had made mistakes in the past, it had strengthened the country.

He said that, if all went as planned, within the next few months two new career paths for Maltese workers would be created in the fields of biology and biotechnology.

Although he did not reveal more details, he said that whether or not these two career paths came to Malta depended on the availability of people trained in the relevant fields.

He added that students should be encouraged to follow careers to match the needs of the country.

Turning to the subject of divorce, he said he still disagreed with the introduction of divorce. However, he insisted that he respected the will of the people who voted in favour of divorce during the referendum and he did all he could to ensure that the principles of democracy were respected.