Updated with video

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will be contesting the fifth electoral district to make up for the ‘loss’ of former minister Karmenu Vella, he announced this evening.

“I know many of you felt I took him away from you, but our country needed him. I want to give you something back, and so I will be running on Żurrieq, the fifth district myself,” Dr Muscat said to rapturous applause from party supporters.  

Addressing supporters in the locality, he said he would still contest the second electoral district but would drop the fourth.

Dr Muscat’s candidature in the fifth district will likely put him in a direct showdown with Partit Demokratiku leader Marlene Farrugia, who had run on the fifth district in the 2013 election.

He was speaking during a rally organised on the second day of the electoral campaign.

In an immediate reaction on Facebook, Dr Farrugia invited Dr Muscat to a public debate saying this was a move she had forecast.

During his speech, Dr Muscat detailed the Labour Party’s first “five priorities” – a list of electoral pledges ranging from tax cuts to resurfacing all of Malta’s roads.

His proposals were credible, Dr Muscat said, because he had already delivered on the promises he made before the 2013 election.

“I kept my word then, and you know I will keep my word now,” Dr Muscat said to hysteric applause.

Dr Muscat’s first priority would be a tax refund for 190,000 workers, with the lowest earners receiving the most. Those who worked but did not qualify to pay tax would still get what he referred to as “another bonus”.
The lowest payout would be €200, with the lowest earners receiving €340, he said.

Part time workers, he said, would also have their tax bill cut, for 15 to 10 per cent.

“This is the difference we have created. People aren’t looking for jobs, but jobs are looking for people,” he said, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

Moving down the list of ‘priorities’, Dr Muscat announced how he planned to give every pensioner an increase “because we can afford it”.

“We already increased pensions for the first time in 25 years, now 90,000 elderly will get another €8 in their pocket every week,” the Labour leader said.

On roads, he announced how he planned to spend €700 million resurfacing, "fixing every last one of the island’s roads".

“Our country is begging for new infrastructure. Localities like this have been plagued by roads which are not fit for the Maltese people, but we have a plan to fix this,” he said.

He said he would finance this through EU funds, private partnerships, and the Development Bank, adding that the project, to be run by a new agency that would be set up, would be spread over seven years.

The fourth proposal had been drafted because “people aren’t just about money – they need their family time”. That was why he planned to give back public holidays which fell on weekends – a proposal which sent the crowd into another frenzy of chanting and cheering.

Ultimately, he said he had a plan to help people purchase property. Dr Muscat said the current administration had already helped first-time buyers purchase properties. He now also wanted to help the middle class purchase a second home.

His property plan would also seek to help those do not have the money for a deposit to still get onto the property ladder.

Dr Muscat said there were some who had described his calling an early election "a government collapse".

Not only had the government not crumbled, he said, but it was going to come out of this election stronger than ever before.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.