Muscat: Joanna Gonzi's comments gave me goose bumps
'The people can send a signal to the government on Saturday'
Labour leader Joseph Muscat said today that he had goose bumps when he heard the recording of comments by (former Sliema Mayor) Joanna Gonzi that she wished Martin Debono's mother had a heart attack. This was totally unacceptable and the least she could have done was to apologise and seek forgiveness, he said, adding that he had been assured that the recording was not tampered with.
Replying to questions in a radio interview on the last day of the campaign for the local council elections, Dr Muscat also referred to the prime minister's address at the end of the recent PN general council meeting and said that his call to put the PN at the heart of society led many to wonder what he was doing in the past four years.
Dr Muscat reiterated Labour's proposals for local councils, notably measures for greater transparency in the running of the councils.
He said that once the elections were over, he would appeal to Labour councillors to work with the Nationalist councillors in the interests of their localities.
Dr Muscat said that at the time of his appointment he had initially been sceptical about local councils. But his meetings with various mayors and councillors showed him the personal sacrifice which some people were making, especially the minority leaders who met the people and sought to act on their complaints, despite not being able to do much because they were in a minority.
He said the central government had not given enough attention to the councils and made their work harder than it already was.
Dr Muscat urged supporters to vote for all the candidates on the Labour lists, pointing out that the 'majority' amendments that applies for general elections does not apply for local councils and it is the final allocation of seats, not the first preference votes, which determines the composition of councils.
He said he would continue to meet people of all political creeds as from Monday.
When he referred to the Joanna Gonzi recordings, Dr Muscat said the people's reply to these disgusting declarations should be to vote for Labour candidates. One should forgive such declarations, he said, though not necessarily forget.
Dr Muscat said that all those who wanted to send a signal to the government must vote on Saturday. "The vote counts more than a thousand complaints. Should you opt not to vote, the happiest person will be Lawrence Gonzi," Dr Muscat said.