Alfred Sant, fresh after a compromise on a party conference motion which had threatened to split Labour, yesterday went on the attack and told the conference that the coming budget would be a test for the prime minister and not, as Eddie Fenech Adami had intimated on Saturday, for the opposition.
"We will see what marks the prime minister scores in this test. He is wrong if he believes we will be supporting him," he said.
On Saturday Dr Fenech Adami said the budget being presented this month would involve unpopular decisions and would be the first test for the Labour Party to act in the national interest.
For far too long, Dr Sant charged, Dr Fenech Adami has been applying interim solutions as if tomorrow never came.
Dr Sant claimed that the prime minister's credentials included the promise of a new spring, but this has turned into a sour autumn. And there were a string of deceits and the slogan 'money no problem'.
Delivering the closing speech at the party's general conference at the party headquarters in Hamrun, Dr Sant argued that the 'money no problem' culture had become so ingrained that there were families and young people who were living beyond their means.
But what happens when the bills start coming in? Now the government was saying that pensions, social services, health services and the drydocks were no longer sustainable.
During yesterday's session of the general conference, the delegates approved by secret ballot the motion moved by the Labour Party general executive and parliamentary group but incorporating an amendment moved on Friday by former party leader Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, who until Friday was promoting his own motion on the subject.
The essence of the motion was that the delegates were urging the Labour Party in opposition and in government to do its utmost to mitigate the negative effects of the accession agreement the government signed with the European Union.
The EU policy motion approved by the conference says:
Din il-Konferenza Generali Annwali theggeg lill-Partit Laburista sew fl-Oppozizzjoni u sew fil-Gvern sabiex jahdem bla heda halli b'kull mod u sa fejn hu possibbli jaghmel hiltu kollha sabiex ixejjen l-aspetti kollha negattivi li jista' jkollu l-pakkett li l-gvern Nazzjonalista ftiehem dwaru ma l-UE u jara li l-ftehim ma l-UE ma jkunx zvantaggjuz u ta' hsara ghall-poplu Malti u Ghawdxi u specjalment ghall-haddiema, u fid-dawl ta' dan, din il-Konferenza tapprova d-dokument imsejjah Il-Partit Laburista u l-UE Ghall-Gid tal-Maltin u l-Ghawdxin li qed jigi pprezentat lill-Konferenza Generali Annwali mill-Ezekuttiv Nazzjonali u mill-Grupp Parlamentari.
Freely translated the motion says: This annual general conference urges the Labour party in opposition as well as in government to work untiringly with every means and wherever possible, to do its utmost to mitigate all the negative aspects of the package that the Nationalist government agreed with the EU.
The Labour party would also see to it that the agreement reached with the EU would not be disadvantageous or harmful to the people of Malta and Gozo, and particularly to workers.
In the light of all this, this conference approves the document called Il-Partit Laburista u l-UE: Ghall-Gid tal-Maltin u l-Ghawdxin Kollha that is being presented to the annual general conference by the national executive and the parliamentary group.
While on Thursday 871 votes were cast, yesterday's turnout by the delegates was smaller and the tally was 668 votes. Of these, 17 were against the motion, two were invalid and there were two abstentions.
Continuing, Dr Sant said the Labour Party would have to spread its wings into a Labour movement that would cement an alliance between those in society who had a low income and that stratum representing the middle class.
The Labour Party had to represent the 'centre' as well as the 'left' of the political spectrum, he said.
Opening his speech, Dr Sant said, beaming "we truly have something to be happy about - a greater success than we had expected".
He added that the success was based on two main elements: the renewal of the party structures and the agreement on the party's policy on the EU.
"This is renewal in the continuity of the party policies and principles."
Thanking all those who took part in this renewal process as well as all those who had contributed to the party in the outgoing national executive, Dr Sant, in a rare gesture, paid tribute to former party president Manwel Cuschieri, whom he described as "one of the captains who were in charge of promoting the party's message, which he did with great mastery".
Dr Sant explained that while the media had interpreted the internal discussions as divergent opinions, the truth was that the party delegates had to digest the views that were being put across in the discussion.
"The discussion has led to a united party. Once again we have unity in the party.
"The EU is not the be all and end all of the party. The next step is to highlight the government's inability to govern.
"The Labour party will be shielding families and elderly citizens from the problems they are facing. This is the direction, no holds barred that we will be giving," Dr Sant said.