The estimated cost of the Nationalist Party’s pledges will be released tomorrow to show its electoral programme is sustainable, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
Unlike Labour, which was promising heaven on earth, the Government would show how it could still achieve a balanced budget by making responsible choices and ensuring economic growth.
“The future can be a mirror of the past five years where in the face of economic turmoil we still created jobs... We need to be prepared for anything that crops up,” he said, referring to the direct assistance which more than 20 companies had received in 2009 when they were on the verge of closing down.
“Today it’s as if nothing happened, but the livelihood of many was in the balance and we intervened to save their jobs,” he said, stressing that the country’s finances had to remain on a sound footing and voters should be wary of Labour’s promises.
In an interview on Radio 101, Dr Gonzi highlighted some of the pledges mentioned in the manifesto such as the creation of 25,000 jobs; sowing the seed of the digital economy; improving civil rights; and amending the constitutional definition of neutrality.
The PN was also proposing that workers who chose to work part-time could pay an adjusted national insurance contribution to improve their pension. Meanwhile, those who worked full- and part-time could opt to raise their contribution and have a higher pension.
The party was also focusing on generating jobs by encouraging people to open up a business. Those under 25 and the long-term unemployed who started their own business would see their tax waived for two years and their national insurance paid by the Government.
These benefits will be extended to three years for Gozitans and women.
He reiterated that following discussing with employers, parents would be able to tap into their own sick leave when their children were ill and they needed to care for them. On childcare, the party was promising parents a voucher system that could be used at any centre of their choice.