Do not vote for change just for the sake of it, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi warned this morning.
Addressing a news conference on Net Television, Dr Gonzi said Dr Muscat was promising a change in direction “but I think there is no need for this”. To change just for the sake of changing may put one in a worse situation.
Surveys so far show that the PL was at an advantage “but how can we risk what we have achieved so far”?
Dr Gonzi said that there was an element of people who were undecided and the government had to continue explaining its way forward.
Asked about Labour MEP Edward Scicluna’s claim that Spain was in a better position than Malta, the Prime Minister said it was irresponsible of Prof. Scicluna to say this.
The creation of employment in the past five years was visible. A total 20,000 students had graduated and had the government created only 4,000 jobs, as Labour was saying, 16,000 new graduates would be looking for job.
Speaking about energy, he mentioned the KPMG report which said that tariffs would increase and not decrease with Labour’r proposals.
Dr Gonzi said that over the past five years, the government had been considering the closure of the Marsa power station because it was inefficient but it was providing half the energy the country needed. So it considered the interconnector project and got EU funds for it. This project was also providing high speed internet through a fibre optic cable.
The government had also looked into converting power station to gas but for this it needed a gas pipeline which costs nearly €250 million. Three years ago the government applied to the EU for funds but although it seemed that Malta’s request had been accepted, the country was still waiting for an official reply.
The government also had other proposals including for alternative energy and for Gozo.
Labour’s energy proposals, he said, were half-baked and could not be implemented with the budget the PL was claiming and within the said timeframes. Moreover agreements to fix gas prices for 10 years did not exist, Dr Gonzi said as he challenged Dr Muscat to produce documents his party had on these gas contracts.
Dr Gonzi warned that Dr Muscat had a history of bad advice which was, metaphorically, tainting his conduct. Such advice included that regarding Cyprus. He had also been against the restructuring of the Drydocks.
The Prime Minister said that, over the past years, the government had invested to save companies and thousands of jobs, it had reduced income tax for four years running, removed 25 taxes and gave incentives to SMEs. All this could be done because the country had strong finances, he said.