Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday acknowledged decisions on public transport, the Drydocks and Air Malta were difficult and affected people working in those places but were crucial for the country to be in the position it is today.

He said these decisions were not easy but had to be taken to ensure that the country could have a secure future.

“How could I leave something like the Drydocks, which was siphoning off €35 million a year, carry on without doing something about it? The decisions were not perfect and we will keep improving on them but had we not taken them, we would be in the same situation as other countries,” he said.

He was addressing party supporters at a discussion event in Żejtun for the electoral campaign.

Dr Gonzi criticised Labour leader Joseph Muscat for his scaremongering on the incidence of cancer, saying statistics showed that Malta was among the countries with the lowest incidence of cancer in the EU. “Dr Muscat should be ashamed of himself,” he said.

As he paid tribute to former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami for the country’s achievements, Dr Gonzi said the past could mirror the future and as the PN had ensured a secure past and present, it was also in a position to offer a secure future.

He spoke about achievements in education and expressed doubts about whether the 30,000 students who were expected to graduate in the next five years would find employment if Dr Muscat got elected.

One of the candidates who addressed the event was former Justice and Interior Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, who was forced to resign after losing a vote of confidence in Parliament presented by rebel PN MP Franco Debono. He compared the country to a ship on voyage.

“Now is not the time to change the captain of our ship and replace him with someone who perhaps has good intentions but does not have the required experience to take charge,” he said to loud applause.