The prime minister insisted once more today that unemployment remained the most important issue in this general election.

Speaking in Sta Lucija, he said that the most important issue was about which party was best positioned to create jobs, and that was the PN.

The PN had a track record which everyone could verify. Labour had a wish list but no real record. The only records which people could remember about labour in government were economic recession and record unemployment.

Dr Gonzi said that Malta was no exception and it still faced economic challenges like the rest of the EU.

During this legislature the government had intervened to save 5000 jobs. This was possible because the economy had been restructured. But Dr Muscat has admitted on Tuesday that he did not agree that the government should have stopped subsidising the dockyard which was losing the country some 35 million euros a year.

Teresa Jimenez Becerril, a Spanish MEP, said Malta was a country that was a success in the EU. In contrast, Spain are facing hard times. "We in Spain wish we were in Malta's economic position."

Spain, she said, had just emerged from years of socialist rule in which the real situation of public finances was hidden. Her appeal, she said, was for the Maltese not to change a winning horse.

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