The campaign for the European Parliament elections had revealed Labour’s lack of political substance and its preference for politics of convenience, the Prime Minister said this afternoon.

Speaking at a press conference, Lawrence Gonzi said the PL was basing its campaign on general national issues whereas the PN was basing itself on issues with an EU context.

The PL was speaking about the challenges which Malta faced while ignoring the fact that there was an international crisis and that Malta’s trading partners were in recession.

It was a recession which was also affecting Malta, but one hardly ever heard of the fact that while in Malta, unemployment was at 6.2%, in some other EU countries it was between 13% and 17%.

The government, Dr Gonzi said, had had to take unpopular decisions, such as the utility tariffs, in view of the global situation, and it had done its best to ease the blow. In contrast, Labour had even made a political football on issues on which there had previously been consensus, such as immigration.

Pl was irresponsible on water and electrician by ignoring the fact that oil prices had rocketed, as did the price of cereals.

Speaking on several areas which the governemnt is working in, Dr Gonzi said public transport reform had been launched and it was hoped that talks would address the concerns of the bus owners while the people were given a better service.

The government, Dr Gonzi said, was giving priority to jobs, creating 7,000 new jobs in the past 12 months, and intervening to save a further 2,000 as some factories suffered the impact of recession.

The Prime Minister said the governemnt was determined to keep inflation in check. It had taken several measures to improve the people’s living standards, such as the full cost of living increase to the elderly. Pensioners could also keep their pension while staying in employment.

Dr Gonzi said Malta was receiving €1,500 million in EU funds, but it was also giving back something in the EU by upholding its values,including the values of solidarity and the value of life.

Replying to questions, Dr Gonzi said that an environment impact assessment would be carried out on the Delimara power station extension, now that the technology had been selected. The equipment that had been chosen, he said, was acceptable in environmental terms, as evidenced by the fact that similar plant had been bought in Corsica and Cyprus.