Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning made a passionate plea to voters to trust the Nationalist Party with their vote.
He said during an interview on Radio 101:
“We are here to serve. We have no sacrosanct right to win elections. We can only win elections if we win the people’s trust...
“Five years ago the people trusted us with the country and we guided it through the tempests. We are willing to learn from our mistakes and to strengthen what we have been doing right.”
Dr Gonzi told first time voters the PN had full confidence in them.
“You have the ability to adapt and make the best use of opportunities. The PN see you as the future.”
He told parents: “You may be considering who to vote for. We have always placed your children first.”
His message to the elderly was: “We always gave you our utmost attention. We want to keep you at the centre of the country’s activity, we want happy grandparents seeing their children’s children succeed.”
And he told Gozitans. “We will keep Gozo the centre of our attention and we will keep creating jobs in Gozo for Gozitans.”
The PN, he said, was only party that could guarantee a secure future.
Dr Gonzi reiterated his claim that 20,000 jobs were created in this legislature and said that this could be seen from the Labour Force Survey which showed that 6,400 professional jobs were created. Also created were 4,400 executive and managerial positions, 3,000 jobs in services, 2,800 clerical jobs and 3,700 technical jobs. New job sectors were also constantly being created.
He referred to a European Commission report last week which said that while most of the Eurozone countries were seeing their economy shrink, Malta’s economy was seeing the second largest growth.
“Why should the people risk changing direction,” Dr Gonzi asked saying it was frightening to hear Labour leader Joseph Muscat say during the Big Debate organised by The Times that it had been a mistake to close down the shipyards.
Dr Muscat’s luxury as opposition leader was that it did not matter if his advice was bad. A Prime Minister did not have that luxury, he said.
Dr Gonzi said he enjoyed seeing young people, including those who had booed him, graduate and earn money. For this benefitted the country.
His aim, he said, was to create an environment which encouraged the creation of work and the government’s policies were bearing results.
“Be wary of Dr Muscat because he has no idea... Do not risk, the more you listen the more you will realise that what Dr Muscat is proposing will put the country at risk.”