Opposition leader Adrian Delia on Wednesday hoped the upcoming May elections will be the first step in changing the government's attitude.

Stating that the Nationalist Party was starting from the bottom, he urged supporters to recognise the party's limitations.

The upcoming European Parliament and local council elections are a month away.

The Nationalist party acknowledged, "with humility", that it needed to gain people's respect, he told supporters at the Ta' Xbiex PN club.

"This is not won overnight or by being arrogant and saying you know everything, but by listening to others," Dr Delia said.

"I am convinced in May, we will take the first step - not to change the government, but to change its attitude," he said.

Dr Delia also criticised the Labour party for saying the PN did not believe in democracy because it did not field enough candidates to fill the minority seats in a number of localities. 

It was rich for the Labour party to say this, considering it tried to stop local elections from taking place two years ago, Dr Delia said.

He thanked the over 296 candidates for the local council elections and 10 for the European Parliament.

Dr Delia also said Finance Minister Edward Scicluna conceded the government had no plan and was not ready for the development boom taking place. 

Speaking at the Labour Party's annual general conference, Prof. Scicluna reportedly said the country's infrastructure was starting to feel the weight of rapid and unprecedented economic growth. 

This, Dr Delia said, confirmed the Nationalist party was right in saying Malta was not ready for the fast-paced development boom.