The government was still ignoring the opposition when it came to important matters, such as Malta's re-entry in the Partnership for Peace and action to be taken as a result of the crisis in fuel and food prices, Labour Party leader contender Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said yesterday.

Speaking at the Rabat market while on the campaign trail, Ms Coleiro Preca said that when it came to the Partnership for Peace, the government should have discussed the matter with the opposition as it involved the country's security and neutrality.

The government, she said, should have waited for Parliament to start to debate the matter before taking action. At the very least, it should have said what agreement had been reached with Nato. The government did not even say if the step taken implied that Malta's next move would be to join the Organisation.

Ms Coleiro Preca said that the people should be told what were the implications for the country's neutrality especially in view of the growing antagonism between western and Arab/Islamic states and the lack of serious agreement between the west and Russia. On the crises in the prices of food and fuel, she said that the government had not yet discussed the matter with the opposition or with the people. It did not say what it was going to do to prepare for this crisis which was affecting the world and which would definitely affect the Maltese and Gozitans.

Ms Coleiro Preca's campaign also took her yesterday to the Mcast marathon being held in aid of the Dar tal-Providenza and Hospice Movement and the exhibition organised by the club A Stitch in Time, being held at the Catholic Institute.