Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that the PN was continuing to propose change for the country, while Labour was going back to the worst of times.
Speaking in a recorded Radio 101 interview, Dr Gonzi said the PL was 'abandoning' workers, to the extent that it had recently made strong attacks on the financial services sector, the tourism sector and Air Malta.
Labour had also 'taken over' the GWU once again and the union's media was again the official mouthpiece of the Labour Party.
The PL was harking back to old Labour policies while the Nationalist government was proposing change, he said.
In the Budget the government had put its cards on the table. The people knew how a government led by the PN would work in 2013, which sectors it would assist and what it would do in sectors such as education and health.
The people knew nothing about what was in store from Labour, the party was only blowing air bubbles.
Dr Gonzi, in particular, urged parents to consider the government's record in education. It was only the Nationalist Party which could give parents peace of mind for their children, he said. They should be careful in the choices they made in the general election, because five years made a lot of difference in children's schooling.
However, the government's record also extended to other sectors, such as job creation, he said. The people could see how Malta was performing much better than its neighbouring countries. Nonetheless, the government would continue to work for those who were unemployed.
In contrast, the positions which Labour had adopted were repeatedly proved wrong. The most recent was how Joseph Muscat had urged the government to emulate Cyprus, and now Cyprus was about to ask the EU for a bailout.
Dr Gonzi insisted that the PN was the party for everyone. It did not interfere in people's life - including people of different sexual orientation. "All the colours of the rainbow come together in the Nationalist Party," he said.
He also pointing out how the party had embraced both those who agreed with divorce and IVF, and those who disagreed.
ELECTION DATE AND THE BUDGET
Dr Gonzi spoke on various aspects of the Budget. Regarding the reduction in the top rate of income tax, he pointed out that this was the implementation of a promise in the electoral programme. However those with a lower income had already benefited from tax cuts under the PN government and they had thus been making savings over the years, he said.
All sectors of the population were also benefiting from other measures, including the raise in the children's allowance. This government had also, in the past, removed the departure tax, the tax on credit cards and the TV licence, among others, he said. In contrast when Labour was last in government, a raft of new taxes were introduced and none were removed.
On the minimum wage, Dr Gonzi insisted that the basic wage was not subject to income tax. However anything else, whether it was a bonus, commission, or otherwise, was subject to income tax, but that only apply to the additional income, he said. He pointed out that the pension was also based on the basic wage and other income was excluded.
Dr Gonzi said the election would come, whether or not the Budget was approved, since the legislature was almost over. The government had clearly spelled out what it planned to do, and he was confident the people would make the responsible choice when the time came.
The election could come in January, February or whichever date he decided, Dr Gonzi said. He had not decided.
He hoped the Budget would be approved, but if it didn't its measures could not all come into force at the beginning of the year and a new government would have to take its decisions, he said.
Labour, he said, was making all sort of promises but not saying how it would get the money for them. It did not even know when it would bring in the power bill reductions, if it could really bring them about. He would expect the cuts in the first week, given its repeated promises, but people within the PL were saying different things, Dr Gonzi said.
He hoped the Budget would be approved, but if it was not, parliament would be dissolved and the country would go to the polls.