The Labour Party aims to strengthen its hold on the north of Malta after achieving majorities in central and southern regions as well as in Gozo, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

He said last week’s European Parliament elections confirmed that the majority of people still believed in the Malta Tagħna Lkoll (Malta for all) pledge and that the times when a party thought it had a monopoly over one region or another had ended.

“The Labour movement has confirmed the strength it had in the southern and central regions and even in Gozo but now we must work harder for the party to gain the absolute majority also in the north,” he said as he addressed a political activity in Nadur.

Dr Muscat said the Labour Party had understood the need for change in Gozo, traditionally a Nationalist Party stronghold, but which switched at the general election last year when Labour elected three MPs from the island.

While on the subject, Dr Muscat took time to highlight the performance of 26-year-old Qala mayor, Clint Camilleri, who lost out on an MEP seat by a mere 200 votes in last week’s European Parliament election.

Dr Muscat heaped praise on the young architect, saying his political career was budding, adding that he “will leave a mark” on Maltese politics.

He said the government was planning to open a campus in Gozo for the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology as well as other measures to continue creating jobs on the island.

He said official statistics had shown that the rate of unemployment was on the way down, with fewer people registering for unemployment than there was under the previous administration.

He reiterated his intention to curb abuses of unemployment benefits, saying that people who really wanted to work would find the support they deserved.

Dr Muscat listed initiatives in the pipeline for the next few months. Among others he mentioned a plan to combat precarious employment, the implementation of changes to the “chaotic” public transport system, splitting Mepa’s planning and environment responsibilities and cheaper utility bills for businesses.

Other projects include the decriminalisation of drugs, a tax-free savings plan for pensions and a scheme for people who have money deposited in foreign banks to bring them back to Malta.

On pensions, Dr Muscat said the government would help those who wanted to save but insisted that the pensionable age would not increased again.