Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi challenged Labour leader Joseph Muscat to give clear and honest answers to 10 questions on how he planned to improve the country’s financial situation and slash utility bills.

The Labour Party was promising changes... but was not telling people how much this would cost

Dr Gonzi said he, and the public, expected answers to all questions during Dr Muscat’s two-hour reply to the Budget speech in Parliament tonight.

Speaking at the closing session of the Nationalist Party’s general council assembly yesterday, Dr Gonzi said that results achieved by the Nationalist government were clear for all to see in the Budget document.

The party’s vision for the future was laid down, black on white, in the policy document that was approved during yesterday’s session. However, the Labour Party’s plans were not clear.

In a brief statement in reply, the PL sarcastically thanked Dr Gonzi for proving he knew Dr Muscat could provide the answers to the problems he brought upon the country. Labour also thanked the Prime Minister for urging the public to follow Dr Muscat’s speech in Parliament.

Dr Gonzi thanked delegates for the enthusiasm shown during the three-day council but cautioned against getting distracted from the economic storm raging around Malta.

Over the past years, Malta managed to sail through the bad weather but this was not a guarantee it would continue to do so as the storm continued. The PL was acting irresponsibly by trying to give the public the impression that such problems did not exist, he said.

He stressed that society needed to be inclusive. In Malta, divorce was now a reality that demanded an adjustment of the policies of the PN that was open to changing realities.

While the family remained the most important unit for the country, the PN promised a law on cohabitation and would deliver. It was also time to address the issue of IVF by enacting legislation to regulate it.

Dr Gonzi called on the social partners to work towards agreeing on how to best implement the increase in maternity leaved by four weeks, to reach 18 weeks.

Transport Minister Austin Gatt, who was greeted by a loud applause and also received a standing ovation, praised the policy document, which, he said, showed that after 25 years in government the PN still had a vision.

The divorce debate, in which Nationalist MPs had varying opinions, showed that the party was not fossilised, he said.

Through his experience in politics he learnt that a party could not please everyone but had to take decisions in the interest of the country. The PL was promising changes, such as a reduction in water and electricity bills, but was not telling the people how much this would cost, he said.

Dr Gatt reiterated that he would not stand for the next election but if the party wanted him he would be in the counting hall with his two sons, he said to a standing ovation.

He said he was not elected because he was Austin Gatt but because he was a PN candidate.

Although there was need for change in the party and national structures, party loyalty was important and, when the PN decided, Nationalists should follow the party, he said in a veiled reference to Nationalist backbencher Franco Debono who insisted on abstaining on a vote of no confidence against Dr Gatt a few weeks ago.

Dr Debono, who spoke earlier in the session, said he had made sacrifices and taken tough decisions in defence of his beliefs.

He said he agreed with various measures listed in the PN document such as the revision of the Constitution and reforming the Broadcasting Authority.

Speaking about the state media, he said that, although some programmes – such as Xarabank and Dissett – were balanced, others were not. No one should be allowed to use the state media to push his/her own agenda or that of a group to harm others deliberately.

The document, entitled Our Roots, lists several proposals that include a constitutional reform bolstering the financial autonomy of Parliament, the Ombudsman, the Auditor General, the Public Accounts Committee and the Permanent Commission Against Corruption.

The document insists that civil liberties must be strengthened and says the party ought to press for legislation on non-married, including homosexual, couples.

The 10 questions

• If you were in government, what would you change about the current economic and financial strategy? Will you stick to current financial targets?

• How do you plan to decrease national debt without increasing taxes? If you insist on stopping capital projects, which ones will they be?

• If you plan to increase taxes to cut the national debt, as Labour MEP Edward Scicluna suggested, what taxes will they be?

• By how much will you decrease utility rates? By 1c? By €1? By €20? If this means that Enemalta will lose money, how will you make up for this?

• Will you slash water and electricity rates for everyone including families, industry, shops and the self employed?

• If the price of fuel goes up, will you still go ahead and slash utility rates?

• If you do so, even if fuel prices go up, how will you finance the difference?

• What did you mean when you recently said you will take controversial decisions regarding projects when you are Prime Minister? Are you saying you will ignore what the Malta Environment and Planning Authority says?

• Is it true that you told contractors that when in government you will issue their pending permits? Did you promise the opposite to environmental NGOs?

• Is it true that you communicated via e-mail with heads of departments and urged them to spy on their employers as you did with the RTK radio journalist?