Nationalist party promises to listen to the people if re-elected were too little, too late, Labour Party leader Joseph Muscat told a Gozo crowd yesterday.

“Now they say they’ll listen to you if you give them your vote. They said the same thing five years ago. They promised but they didn’t deliver,” he told supporters packing Xagħra square for a PL mass meeting.

He called on Gozitans to “be protagonists for change” and send out a strong signal come March 9 by voting for “each and every” PL candidate on their ballot sheet. But change would not come about unless people made it happen, he said. “There’s no point wishing for change unless you vote for it. Don’t pay attention to the surveys. No poll is worth a single vote.”

Dr Muscat saluted Xagħra mayor Joe Cordina, who resigned his electoral candidature in the wake of PN allegations linking him to the ongoing investigation into illegal oil commissions, and former PL deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia.

“I look forward to the day when we can work together for our country,” he said.

The PL leader also reminded the crowd of some of his party’s Gozo-centric proposals, from investment in a cruise liner passenger terminal to tax rebates for Gozitan start-ups or those taking on new staff.

The mere mention of an agreement the PL had reached with hunters’ federation FKNK (see story on back page) prompted an approving roar from the crowd.

Dr Muscat said the agreement, which had been thrashed out over two years of talks, would not change “inalterable” EU rules but would ensure local hunters and trappers were treated on a par with their European counterparts.

“Some hunters will be disappointed with the agreement, but we’re not promising anything we cannot deliver. I want a clean conscience,” he said.

The agreement would also be aggressively enforced, he said. “We will be extremely vigilant when it comes to enforcement. If you’re breaking the law, you won’t find anywhere to hide.”