Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that the government was continuing its preparations for the Budget and intended to present it to Parliament, despite Labour's efforts to prevent it.

Dr Gonzi said at a PN event in Sta Venera that the Budget would be a vote of confidence and it would be up to everyone to shoulder his responsibilities.

This morning's event was focused on education, with Dr Gonzi replying to questions from a number of students. 

Dr Gonzi, however, also referred to last week's controversies and said it was shameful that the leader of the opposition and others seemed to think that the priority for Malta should be car parks and not economic growth and related subjects such as education.

The Opposition insisted last week that Parliament must urgently debate motions on the government's plans for the privatisation of car parks. 

Replying to questions on education, Dr Gonzi said he was extremely proud of the progress which the country was making in the education sector, particularly the fast rate of growth in post-secondary education.

The young, he said, were Malta's prime resource. An educated workforce was the only way how the country could remain an attractive, competitive, investment destination.

The PN government would continue to invest heavily in education while giving students their stipends, as well as the facilities to learn and to train. 

The PN was and would remain the party of education. It never closed private schools or Mcast, it never restricted entry to hundreds of students for the University, it never said it wanted to raise a socialist generation.

The government, he said, was spending some €6,000 per student per year, which meant some €120,000 per student throughout their school years, which was no mean achievement for a country which had had no resources.

MINIMUM WAGE

Dr Gonzi said Dr Muscat was believed when he said he would not raise the minimum wage, because that was what happened under Labour in the past. Dr Muscat had only later added that the cost of living increase would continue to be given. Labour was saying the minimum wage would be raised when the economy grew, but, Dr Gonzi said, the economy did badly under Labour.

Dr Gonzi also appeared to briefly refer to current political controversies, saying only that everyone one had shoulder his responsibilities'.

NATIONAL ISSUES vs CAR PARKS

He deeply regretted, he said, that as the government worked to keep the country ahead, others were insisting that the country should focus on car parks.

It was shameful that the leader of the opposition and others could not differentiate between what was of national importance and other issues which, should be debated in due time, but with a sense of proportion being kept.

Malta was being praised by overseas leaders. Jose' Manoel Barroso said Malta's economy was an example to others. The Libyan president had welcomed the opening of an Mcast centre in Misurata. 

It appeared that the challenge which faced Malta was over car parks, while other countries battled heavy deficits, Dr Gonzi remarked.

But the country's real future depending on the government maintaining a steady course for economic growth.

Asked what a new PN government could offer that was different from the present, Dr Gonzi said the government wished to work on creating more varied opportunities as well as tailor-made services and not just one size fits all models.

LEGISLATURE 'IN FINAL WEEKS'

The government, he said, was in the last weeks of the legislature before general elections. He urged his listeners to consider what they had heard and seen over the past four-and-a-half years.

They could see how this was a government which improved education, created jobs and maintained economic stability in a sea of turbulence. It had also delivered record tourism results.

He said the government was working on the Budget and would deliver it to the House. Labour was trying to prevent this. It  wanted to deliver the Budget to set the country's course for next year. The country would pause for a short while for the holding of elections, he said, but with the right choice, the country could then continue its journey in safe waters.

The Budget would be a vote of confidence in the government, he said, and everyone would have to shoulder his responsibility.

The choice was clear, Dr Gonzi said and he was confident that truth would prevail.

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