With the MEP election two months away, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said it was important for the Nationalist Party “to win”.
Speaking this morning at the Mellieħa PN club, Dr Busuttil said if the Opposition won, it would be a victory for all the country.
He did not elaborate but until now Dr Busuttil has always made it his target to secure three seats out of six, without committing himself as to whether the PN should be able to win a majority of votes.
However, Dr Busuttil also acknowledged the difficult task ahead to convince people to vote for the PN, saying that people were “still hurt” by the actions of the previous government.
Commenting on a number of house visits he did in Xgħajra and Kalkara yesterday, Dr Busuttil said the party had to do much more to win back people’s trust, admitting that the PN had lost touch with the people.
“We do not only have to show people that we have good ideas but that we are also capable of being a people’s party... we have a mountain to climb,” he said, adding the May vote will be a difficult test for the PN given the vote deficit of the last election.
He then praised the “good” team of MEP candidates that were standing on the PN ticket and insisted the party could be persuasive.
Dr Busuttil dwelt at length on what he described as “a mistaken proposal” to permanently anchor a liquefied natural gas tanker inside Marsaxlokk Bay – this will serve as a floating storage unit for the new gas power station.
He urged the government to change its stand before the planning authority board, which Dr Busuttil accused of having a majority of Labour lackeys, next Monday votes on the proposal.
The Opposition leader warned of the unacceptable risk the tanker will pose to residents and insisted the PN would strongly object.
“The people of the south who in their majority have voted Labour feel betrayed and it is our duty to give them a voice, stand up for them and fight for them,” Dr Busuttil said.
During his speech, which was mostly a re-run of the same arguments made during the Xarabank debate on Friday, Dr Busuttil also expressed his concern at growing unemployment.
He also criticised a government scheme called Ħaddar u Sebbaħ lil Għawdex, intended to create jobs in Gozo, saying this was similar in concept to the numerous failed labour corps set up in the 1970s and 1980s to put people on a State wage. He said the conditions of the scheme were precarious.
“Is this the government’s best idea for job creation in Gozo?” he asked sarcastically.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com