A Labour government will respect the decision made by the European Court of Justice on spring hunting, party leader Alfred Sant said yesterday.
"Once the ECJ passes judgment on this matter, as full members of the EU we'll implement its decision," he said, when asked during the morning's party activity.
Hunters have long used their vote to hold politicians to ransom. However, this time, the decision on whether to allow spring hunting is no longer in the hands of the two political parties after the European Commission decided to force the issue by taking it to the ECJ.
Whatever the outcome, Dr Sant made it amply clear that a Labour government will abide by the court's decision.
Dr Sant was also asked to declare his party's stand on divorce, another prickly subject, which the two main political parties have skirted for years. Malta remains one of two countries in the world - the other is the Philippines - where divorce laws are non-existent and when Dr Sant himself had raised it between 1996 and 1998 he had been sorely criticised.
Was a Labour government prepared to re-open the debate on divorce?
"We'll wait for civil society to express itself and, once there's a momentum, then we'll open up the debate, which, if need be, will lead to the necessary reform," he replied.
Dr Sant was fielding questions from journalists during a press conference in front of the Housing Authority to launch new schemes for young couples planning to buy their first property.
He referred to studies by the Central Bank of Malta in 2006, which showed that over the previous 20 years the price of a finished flat had soared to €121,127 (Lm52,000) from €26,787 (Lm11,500), while that of a finished maisonette had rocketed to €132,810 (Lm57,000) from €29,600 (Lm12,700) - an increase of over 300 per cent in both cases.
The same study showed that in the last 10 years home loans had risen from €291 million (Lm125 million) to €1.1 billion or Lm0.5 billion, another escalation of 300 per cent.
The difficulties young couples faced when buying their first home and the debt they ran into was also highlighted in a report drawn up by the Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission in January 2007.
Too many young couples were making enormous sacrifices and entering into debt and new families sometimes collapsed under this financial burden.
"Even the caretaker Prime Minister confirmed that this is a problem, which has reached crisis proportions. As a party we have specific proposals aimed at helping first-time buyers in a realistic way," Dr Sant said.
First-time buyers who purchase a property not exceeding €116,500 (Lm50,000) will be given a grant amounting to 10 per cent of the property's value. An interest subsidy scheme would ensure that interest paid by the new house owners does not exceed 4.5 per cent a year.
Labour is also proposing that, in agreement with local banks, families will be given a one-year moratorium on loan repayments if the main breadwinner passes away.
"Through such measures, those who benefit from this scheme will have saved about €15,500 (Lm6,600)," Dr Sant added.
Asked if these proposals could lead the private sector to raise the price of property, Dr Sant admitted that this was a possibility.
"However, there is another possibility. Whoever is targeting to sell their property for €130,444 (Lm56,000), would consider selling at €114,139 (Lm49,000) or €116,468 (Lm50,000) to qualify under this scheme. So it cuts both ways," he pointed out.
During question time, Dr Sant was also asked to clarify whether his party's promise to cut the power surcharge by half excluded commercial establishments, small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses.
"Our promise is that a Labour government will reduce the surcharge by half for all households. With regard to the industrial and commercial sector there are different tariffs from those applicable to households. We'll look at how we can, in the long-term, introduce a measure that somehow alleviates the burden related to the surcharge, according to their particular situation," he said.
Dr Sant was also asked if his government would consider building social housing in areas earmarked as outside development zones.
"It's not the first time, even while in government, that we had the option of building on agriculture land and we chose not to. However, never say never. The first principle is not to build in ODZ; that's the most rational thing to do."
On the subject of vacant dwellings, Dr Sant said the challenge was how to bring these properties back on the market. "We are aware of these problems. We'll set off with the proposal we had set up between 1996-1998, where we had a commission with a representation of both political parties and related professionals to discuss these matters and establish how to proceed."