Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi made a strong plea for party unity yesterday, saying he would keep running the country the best way he knew how so long as he enjoyed the support of his councillors.

“As long as we remain together, we will continue to overcome all the challenges. As long as we remain united, respecting each others’ positions, we can continue to run this great country, even after the next election,” he said at the close of what was being seen as a hugely important PN general council, one he earlier described as “almost extraordinary”.

The council comes soon after the referendum in which the majority voted for divorce even though the PN and the Prime Minister opposed its introduction.

The issue has caused the increasingly factious party – whose own MP Jeffery Pullicino Orlando forced divorce onto the national agenda – to go into serious soul-searching mode.

Dr Gonzi said the referendum had tested the party, which had a rich history of transforming the nation into an independent and European one that cherished its religion and values.

He referred to the party’s slogan Religio et Patria (religion and country) and the fact that the party prioritised its ­democratic and Christian credentials – but he made it a point to lay greater stress on the former.

Although he did not say how he would vote in Parliament on divorce, he reiterated that the electorate’s decision would be respected. So long as this was done, he said, there should also be space to vote against or to abstain for those who disagreed with divorce.

The PN, he said, was a party open to people from all backgrounds and ideas: a mosaic which, when looked at from a distance, revealed the bigger picture made up of unique individuals. The party’s anti-divorce stand, which allowed space for disagreement, was testimony to this.

This is what had given the PN its strength throughout the years. This had always worked towards the common good, which he defined as what was good for each individual.

Dr Gonzi said he had run the country and the party for seven years in the best way he knew how, with his style, character, values and dignity, and would continue to do so as long as people had faith in him.

He criticised the Labour Party for always creating obstacles and objecting to changes without proposing credible and sustainable solutions.

Referring to Joseph Muscat’s appearance on Xarabank last Friday and his unwillingness to speak about his party’s proposals, Dr Gonzi said this showed Labour was simply interested in winning the general election.

Dr Gonzi also slammed Labour for not categorically condemning the atrocities committed by the Gaddafi regime in Libya, wondering what would have happened had Labour been in government.

Labelling declarations by some Labour exponents as “shocking” statements, Dr Gonzi took the opportunity to say Malta would remain open to emergency landings of warplanes involved in UN-mandated military action in Libya.

Malta would also remain committed to saving migrants in distress, unlike the Labour Party which was callously dismissing their needs.

Ending with his slogan “together everything is possible”, he said the party had a lot of work to do in the next couple of years to ensure it would be open, ­transparent and inclusive, while creating jobs, prioritising health, providing education and protecting the environment.

He said the party also had to provide an “exciting and ­adventurous” vision for young people.