I want your vote only if you believe I really deserve it - Gonzi

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning reiterated his call to party councillors to judge him by his actions in the vote of party leadership later on this month.

Speaking in Gozo this morning, Dr Gonzi said:

"The PN is not bound to power but to the people's confidence. This is the major difference between the PN and the PL.

"Judge me not by what I say but by what I do. Now is the moment of truth. I appreciate the privilege of having been given the responsibility to lead the party but because I am not bound to power I ask you to judge my leadership in secret.

"Irrelevant of whether or not others contest me, I want your vote to be an honest one, and that is why it is being taken in secret. I only want your vote if you believe I really deserve it, Dr Gonzi said, insisting that he and his colleagues had been appointed to serve the people.

Earlier, Dr Gonzi said that Labour leader Joseph Muscat was being influenced to take bad decisions by the extremists within his party.

Dr Muscat had initially said he did not want to call for a guillotine motion, something which dated back to the years of extreme socialism. And although Dr Muscat now admitted that 1981 government was morally wrong, he still defended the people who militated within the party at the time, including Marie Louise Coleiro, Leo Brincat, Karmenu Vella and Alex Sciberras Trigona.

As it had done with the EU referendum vote, the PL lost the vote on its no confidence motion in Parliament but Dr Muscat came out saying he won.