Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said he got goosebumps when he read The Sunday Times' interview with Joseph Muscat this morning because it proved the Labour leader "understood nothing".
He made specific reference to when Dr Muscat said Malta's economic stability occurred "despite the Government, not because of it".
Dr Gonzi said this showed Dr Muscat's lack of understanding because he did not appreciate the importance of difficult decisions taken by the Government, such as the Air Malta, Sea Malta and the Shipyards interventions.
The Prime Minister pointed out that Dr Muscat acknowledged the country's success but claimed the Government had nothing to do with it.
Dr Gonzi also lambasted Dr Muscat for not saying in which direction he wanted to take the country and for ignoring questions put to him during the Xarabank debate regarding his advice earlier in the legislature to follow in the footsteps of Cyprus, now asking for a bailout.
Dr Gonzi said sound finances were crucial to ensuring free healthcare and education. He said he would soon open a new school in Handaq because education remained a priority till the end of the legislature. He also said Dr Muscat had given up on creating 20,000 jobs in the next legislature, but warned that there would be another 20,000 graduates who would need employment.
Dr Gonzi was speaking in Siggiewi where PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier unveiled the PN's smartphone app for the election: mychoice.pn.
Earlier, Tourism Minister Mario de Marco also made reference to the interview in The Sunday Times, apologising for having to quote in English but saying this was because it was Labour's "new fad" to speak in English.
Dr de Marco then said the interview showed Dr Muscat did not understand the economy or tourism because he did not appreciate how much the Government had worked in the area to achieve records each year.
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech also spoke at the meeting in Siggiewi where he attributed most of Malta's accumulated debt to Labour. He said Labour had employed 7,000 civil servants before the 1987 election, costing the country €1 billion. Labour, which accumulated €700 million debt in 22 months of Alfred Sant's Government was also against the privatisation of the Shipyards which accumulated €1.2 billion debt.
"That's already three billion of the five billion Labour is worried about," he said, adding that the PN's debt came from initiatives like Mater Dei Hospital for which the country should be proud.