The Labour Party’s target for next May’s European Parliament elections is to obtain the majority of votes and not necessarily elect four out of six candidates as in 2009, Prime Minister Joseph Muscatsaid yesterday.
Addressing a political activity at the Orpheum Theatre in Gżira, Dr Muscat played down Labour’s chances in these elections, arguing that as a rule the parties in government never fared well, as disgruntled voters tended to protest by staying at home.
However, he warned hardcore Labour supporters that abstaining would only play into the hands of the Nationalist Party.
Following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, voters will be also called upon to choose the new president of the European Commission in these elections.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz was formally given the green light to run for the post during the congress of the Party of European Socialists, held in Rome.
Dr Muscat, who attended the congress, said Mr Schulz’s nomination boded well for Malta due to his close relations with him and he urged Labour supporters to give him their preference.
The Prime Minister also announced that former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta would be visiting Malta later this week to attend a two-day conference organised by The Economist.
Turning to issues that dominated last week’s political agenda, Dr Muscat focused on Enemalta, saying the decision by Standard & Poor’s to upgrade the corporation’s outlook from negative to stable was “good news for the Maltese economy”.
The Prime Minister said this was only thanks to the preliminary agreement signed with a Chinese state-owned energy company, which would inject millions into the debt-stricken corporation.
He added that any further downgrading of Enemalta would have posed serious threats to public finances and possibly force the government to ask for a bailout.
Dr Muscat fended off criticism, spearheaded by the Opposition, on the proposed floating storage and re-gasification unit of the new gas-fired plant in Delimara, saying the government was forging ahead with plans that had been overwhelmingly approved at the polls this time last year.
The Prime Minister said it was rather ironic that the Opposition last week raised a breach of privilege complaint against Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, after accusing the government of trying to gag the Opposition when the Prime Minister filed a similar complaint last October.
In a statement, the Nation-alist Party said that a year after being elected to government, Joseph Muscat was already out of touch with the people and was also in denial about the rise in unemployment numbers.
It said the Prime Minister was refusing to heed the advice of 91 per cent of Marsaxlokk residents, who had expressed themselves against having a floating gas storage depot permanently berthed at Delimara.