Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday said he remained hopeful of re-election despite survey results consistently showing the Nationalist Party was far behind Labour.

“I remain confident. We have an enormous task ahead of us but we have a good story to recount and we have the privilege of facing the Maltese electorate and saying: these are the results, you are enjoying them.

“We have a story of success to recount. This is what we have done at a time of turmoil. Imagine what we can do when the economic storm subsides,” he said, urging his followers not to give up.

He said many people were bothered by the fact that the PN had been in Government for so long, almost as if the party had some sort of “hypothec” on the country.

“But nothing is being imposed. The choice is yours and we have always respected the electorate’s decisions,” he said, though he warned that there would be consequences to making the wrong choice.

He said a choice between two political parties was not like choosing a meal from a menu and experience in other countries showed that “experimenting” sometimes had dire consequences.

The PN, he said, had always delivered change for the better, from independence to European Union membership, including entry into the Eurozone, a serious police and judicial system and freedom in the education sector.

On the other hand, Labour had consistently brought about change for the worse, restricting education, turning stipends into loans, freezing Malta’s EU membership application and generally driving the country into a wall, even between 1996 and 1998, when it was last in power.

Dr Gonzi also pointed out that the European Commission report issued last week was yet another great certificate for Malta and the way its economy was being managed.

But Labour leader Joseph Muscat, whose sole intention was to become the youngest Prime Minister in history, was only interested in painting every-thing black.

He warned voters not to discard the advice of foreign experts like the European Commission in favour of the advice of someone who had consistently been proven wrong, such as when he sang praises for Spain and Cyprus just before they floundered.

Labour had already brought change for the worse in the lives of 180 people the party struck off the electoral register through court applications.

Dr Gonzi also cast doubt on Dr Muscat’s pledge to reduce electricity rates. He suspected Dr Muscat would opt for an “experimental” proposal by Sargas which combined coal with a paste made from olive pits. This combination would produce cheaper energy, Dr Gonzi said, but coal, which was used under Malta’s Socialist regimes, was notorious for its environmental impact.

Labour would be making a mistake if it was basing its promises on this proposal, Dr Gonzi said, even though he claimed it was being studied by the Government.

Dr Gonzi also spoke about the importance of two Bills before Parliament, on IVF and cohabitation. In both cases, the Government was seeking to regulate areas that had until now been left to the law of the jungle.

The IVF Bill would ensure that embryos would be protected from the moment of fertilisation except in extreme cases, while the cohabitation law would protect vulnerable partners from being thrown out in the cold after spending years living with someone.

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