Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning hit out at Labour proposals not to raise the minimum wage, and said this amounted to a 'freeze' which was in sharp contrast to Joseph Muscat's living wage proposals made just a few months ago.
Speaking in Gozo, Dr Gonzi said this was one example of how the people did not know where they stood with the Labour Party.
Interviewed by journalist Leonard Callus, Dr Gonzi said the PN was the party which brought change for the better. It was not ashamed of any part of its history. It brought in major reforms in health, education, justice, the infrastructure and many other areas. In contrast, one only needed to remember the 22 months of the last labour government, including the 33 new taxes it had introduced.
The people would soon be asked to choose at the general election. A reflection on what had happened in Malta and abroad in the past four years should be enough for the people to vote PN, Dr Gonzi said. Other countries had been brought to their knees because of wrong decisions. In Malta, tough decisions had been taken, but as a result the country had continued to move forward.
A new PN government would continue to offer the best education opportunities for the young, high quality health services, and jobs.
Dr Gonzi said the people did not know where they stood with Labour. Up to some months ago, Dr Muscat had been speaking of the introduction of the Living Wage. One would have assumed that his theory was based on proper studies. The proposal had been harshly criticised and Dr Muscat toned his proposal down, but did not say he had dumped it.
Now he was going to another extreme, saying that it would be 'usless raising the minimum wage in the current economic climate' and this was not a priority. This meant that Labour would freeze the minimum wage, Dr Gonzi said.
The last time the country heard of a 'freeze' was under the Labour government when it sought to control the cost of living through a wage freeze. This was back to Mintoff economics which had been praised by Edward Scicluna, who was hoping to be Labour's finance minister.
The PN position was that the minimum wage should be raised every year in terms of the cost of living index rather than being frozen. In four years, the minimum wage had risen by almost €1,000 per year. Social benefits had also been raised. Pensioners, for example, were now being given pensions with a full cost of living increase. And Malta's competitiveness had still not been eroded.
Once Dr Muscat wanted to reduce tariffs, once he was promising everything to everyone, and once he was saying he would not raise taxes, was this how he would fill the financial hole?
This was a clear warning of what Labour was about.
In his address Dr Gonzi regretted that the PL over the past week had held activities to compete with Independence. This, he said, was a disgrace. The PL preached unity but at a time when the country should have been uniting over Independence Day, it was actually divisive and had held rival events.
Dr Gonzi reiterated PN governemnt plans to built a tunnel between Malta and Gozo if the project was viable and said studies so far were encouraging.
Asked by Mr Callus whether he was really preparing to let go of the leadership of the PN, Dr Gonzi replied to applause that a good captain never let go of the rudder.
PL DENIES GONZI'S CLAIMS
In a statement, the Labour Party said the prime minister was being irresponsible and 'lying' about its responsible position not to raise the minimum wage beyond statutory cost of living increases.
The party said its position had been agreed to by the majority of the social partners.
It insisted that cost of living increases would still be given and Dr Gonzi through his comments was undermining the consensus that had been achieved.