Although Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s resignation from the Nationalist Party was a serious matter, the government also had to look ahead and address and seek solutions to issues which were important for the country, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this morning.

Speaking during a dialogue meeting at the PN headquarters in Pieta, Dr Gonzi said that although, as leader of the PN, he had to address the internal challenges, he could never shift attention from the matters that were of utmost importance to Maltese families.

He added that he did not want to see Malta humiliated as other countries were being humiliated.

The Prime Minister said that faced with its internal problems, this government did not panic as the 1996-1998 Labour government had done.

Then, he said, it was not Mintoff which had brought down the Labour government.

The Labour government had gone bankrupt because of the tax Alfred Sant had introduced to replace VAT, strangling the private sector and leading the country into a wall.

Dr Gonzi said that, unlike the Labour Party, the PN would not promise heaven on earth but would say that it was confident in the capabilities of the Maltese, through which it could overcome the challenges.

The country also needed to continue building its policies on the values it still treasured, such as those of solidarity and respect.

To do this, it had to continue to grow economically and this could be done by addressing waste, removing subsidies which did not make sense and investing for growth.

Dr Gonzi said that as long as the PN managed to retain a majority of votes in Parliament to implement its electoral programme, it had the duty to remain in power.

He again mentioned a number of laws the government would work to enact once Parliament met after the summer recess.

These included that on IVF, which, he said, would not introduce in-vitro fertilisation since this was already being done in Malta but would regulate the existing jungle and establish what could not be done.

He pointed out that all sorts of things which in other countries people went to prison for could be carried out in Malta at this point.

Other laws he would like to see enacted were the whistle blower act and another regulating Parliament.

Dr Gonzi also spoke on the City Gate project which he said was progressing as planned. He said the theatre would be close to completion by the end of this year and Parliament by the beginning of the next. This spot, he said, would be an iconic spot in Malta because of architect Renzo Piano’s international reputation.

On the situation at Air Malta, Dr Gonzi said that this had improved and the airline was on the right track.

He noted that had it not been for the increase in the price of oil, the airline would have reduced its losses by another €17 million.

He said he was confident Air Malta could continue to progress if decisions which needed to be taken continued to be taken