In his first speech since last Friday’s tumultuous political events, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat yesterday reiterated calls for a vote of confidence in the government but encouraged “prudence”, telling his supporters to “keep their feet on the ground”.
A Labour government would be safe for Malta
“Many people might expect us to strike a fatal blow when our adversaries are on their knees but we have to look beyond our noses,” Dr Muscat told a large crowd gathered outside the PL’s Rabat club.
Surrounded by many of his Shadow Cabinet members, Dr Muscat said that national stability was at the forefront of his concerns.
“Elections come and go but Malta is here to stay. The country cannot remain frozen while GonziPN deals with its internal problems.”
Having spent 23 of the past 25 years in opposition, many Labour supporters are eager to seize the moment and go for the government’s jugular. “I can’t wait for the government to fall,” one elderly supporter was overheard telling her friend at the event yesterday.
Dr Muscat, however, urged his grassroots to remain guarded. “People might say we’re being too cautious, but this is not the time for either the Opposition or the government to cling to power.”
“My friends, I’ll be clear, is the Opposition in a hurry for an election? No it is not, we are here to serve, we are not here to put spanners in the works but our job is to make sure there is stability,” he said.
But his tempering of PL expectations was also peppered by the caveat that the Labour party could “never have confidence in the government... We are the opposition, not the government’s fan club,” Dr Muscat said to rapturous applause.
He described a parliamentary vote of confidence as an “honourable and serious path” for Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to establish a legislative majority, and argued that the country’s stability, jobs and investment depended on it.
“The Prime Minister himself said that the people deserved to know where they stood with the government some weeks back, when he called a vote of confidence after the Transport Ministry debacle. I don’t think the Prime Minister changed his thinking since then and I agree with this thinking,” Dr Muscat insisted.
When asked later on by The Times whether the Opposition would move its own motion of no confidence if the government failed to do so, Dr Muscat said: “First we have to see whether the [Parliamentary] Speaker will accept our request to reconvene Parliament. But all avenues remain open.”
Beyond the note of caution, Dr Muscat’s speech earlier was also punctuated by campaign broadsides.
In one of them, he insisted that his first decision if elected Prime Minister would be to remove the €500-per-week pay rise the government had introduced in 2008 without telling anyone.
Last Friday, Dr Gonzi announced that the pay raise had been suspended until the end of this legislature. The decision was attributed to the difficult economic climate.
“I am sure that if he were to be re-elected, Lawrence Gonzi’s first decision would be to take the €500-per-week back,” Dr Muscat said to roars of approval.
He warned those present to ready themselves for a steady stream of fear-mongering, latching on to some of the phrases used by insubordinate MP Franco Debono in the process.
“The ruling clique will try and frighten you and paint me as the villain. But our movement is more than a mere word. It is a leadership style that runs counter to the GonziPN oligarchy.”
Fear – “the second most powerful weapon in politics”, as Dr Muscat described it – could only be combated with something more powerful. “And that weapon is hope,” he said. “Hope that Malta’s brightest days are yet to come.”
A Labour government, Dr Muscat assured those listening, would be “safe for Malta – safe for jobs, business, families, investment and the middle class.”
The PL movement’s doors were “wide open to anyone who shares our principles”, the Opposition leader continued. Everyone, including erstwhile PN councillor and future PL candidate Cyrus Engerer, applauded.
But when asked later if this invitation was also open to Dr Debono, Dr Muscat told The Times that the MP’s switching sides “is not in any way something I, nor presumably he, foresee”.