Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Sunday hammered home the message that no one individual was bigger than the party and the movement built around it.
Addressing supporters during a rally in Valletta, Dr Muscat said Labour’s 10 election victories over the past years were all down to the unity that best characterised the movement.
“You can never unite the population if at first you cannot unite your party”, he said.
Speculation has continued to grow as to when Dr Muscat will bow out of his leadership role, as the Prime Minister has repeatedly indicated he would not contest the next general election.
Dr Muscat said Sunday that a party and a movement was not united thanks to the work of just one person.
This unity came about thanks to a collective effort, he said.
“The movement is not a single person. We are all part of it. This is the big lessons to be drawn from the past 10 election successes, one bigger than the other”, Dr Muscat said.
The Prime Minister’s asked supporters to be vigilant of anyone who was becoming big-headed, and to remind them of the bigger cause.
Benefits for pensions, workers and students in next budget
Dr Muscat said the government had already shifted its focus to the next budget.
Pensioners would once again receive an increase in pensions and students could look forward to an increase in stipends.
Workers would be given back another day of the leave “stolen” from them, the Prime Minister continued.
Dr Muscat said major reforms to rent laws were in the pipeline. These reforms would balance out the rights of landlords and tenants, he said.
The Prime Minister also referred to the need for Constitutional reforms and the role the Opposition would play in this.
Dr Muscat said he was “disappointed” the Opposition had not heeded the strong message sent to it by the electorate.
Opposition has not heeded electorate’s message
Less than 24 hours after the election result, Opposition MEPs have already packed their bags to continue with the narrative against Malta, he said.
On a declaration by Opposition leader Adrian Delia saying he would not be taking any more notice of his MP Jason Azzopardi, the Prime Minister said Dr Delia would have to take notice of him, as the MP was his responsibility.
Speaking about the local elections, Dr Muscat vowed that the councils with a Labour majority, amounting to 70% of all councils, would be given space to work instead of being led on centrally.
He said the party’s job was to ensure every councillor fulfilled his promises to the electorate.
Dr Muscat also had words of praise for the Labour councillors in the 16 local councils that were under PN control.
Enormous gains had been made in these councils too, Dr Muscat said, citing the example of Attard where the Labour Party gained an additional councillor.
PL has strong base for the future
The Prime Minister said 40% of Labour’s councillors were youngsters. This showed the party had a solid base for the future. He thanked the older generation for their continued service to the party.
Dr Muscat hailed the success of Labour’s Lead programme, from which 33% of the women were elected during the local council elections.
The Prime Minister said he was still not satisfied by the amount of women elected and would continue devoting energies to encourage more to participate in public life.
Dr Muscat gave a nod to all candidates with a disability, who he termed as the “unsung heroes”.
He extended his congratulations to one of those candidates, Matthew Chetcuti, who was successfully elected to the Rabat council.
The Prime Minister said other candidates with a disability who had not been elected had a place in the Labour movement and he wanted to see the mainstreaming of such candidates.
He warned Valletta’s new Labour-led council that it had a big responsibility on its shoulders.
Dr Muscat said the scrutiny of this council and the anticipation of Valletta residents would be bigger than ever.
The Prime Minister’s said he wanted the Labour party to be the natural choice for Valletta residents in five years’ time.