Gonzi’s electoral tax cuts ‘underestimated people’s altruism’ – Muscat

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat called on supporters not to give in to any provocation in the wake of a possible budget vote tomorrow that may spell early elections for Lawrence Gonzi's governm

The prime minister tomorrow faces a vote to approve his budget, but Nationalist MP Franco Debono has declared he will not vote in favour of the money bill, which means the Prime Minister will have to dissolve the House and announce elections.

 "Whatever happens tomorrow, we will be serene - serene that every legislature runs its time," Muscat said. "Labour remains united, a team ready for government, with new people who a few years ago would have not dreamt of being with us today, who are ready to give service to this country."

Muscat said Labour will not be "reacting to provocation" tomorrow, sensing the ominous backlash in the wake of Franco Debono's vote against the budget. "We knew that one way or another, what we had predicted would happen," Muscat said of the crisis that has plagued Gonzi's government since Debono announced he was withdrawing his support back in January 2012.

"This is a government that has imploded, moving from one crisis to another. Gonzi wasted this country's time by putting his party before country, Austin Gatt before stability," Muscat said referring to the minister whom Debono said should resign if he was to vote in favour of the budget. "When Gonzi had a choice, faced with this impending turmoil he chose his minister."

Labour will vote against tomorrow's budget, which Muscat has however committed himself to retain all measures save for tax bands which were not adjusted for minimum wage earners.

"This budget is a vote of confidence in this government, and we have no confidence in the prime minister. In principle, we cannot support a budget that makes minimum wage-earners pay tax. For us this is unacceptable."

Muscat's most barbed criticism of the Nationalist budget was when he accused Lawrence Gonzi of "having lost the plot" and of having "underestimated the altruism of Maltese society" with a tax cut for those who earn €19,501-€60,000 who will be paying 25% tax by 2015, down from 35%.

"GonziPN made a social error in its budget. Gonzi tried to appeal to a sense of egoism in those who don't care about the people around them, who don't care about minimum wage-earners. GonziPN has underestimated Maltese society and our families, and the new generation being built in our country where even those who are well-off understand that they can only advance further if the people around them are advancing further. It is this sense of social justice and altruism that is at the heart of every person in Malta."

Muscat took to the podium right after a fiery speech from the veteran Labour MP Joe Debono Grech, whose hot-headed invectives against the Nationalist Party and even former prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami, were the opposite of Muscat's more placid appeals to his audience.

"This is a new page in Maltese political history. Never before was there a movement ready for government with such a wide cross-section of people. Labour has understood that the time of yesterday's parties, is over. The time of tribal politics is over. We are one family, and we face enormous challenges ahead of us - challenges we can face with enthusiasm, energy and will.

"Our real aim is to build a new middle class in our country, a new middle class of people who want to work more and at the end of the year realize that they have provided more for their family, and even allowed themselves the luxury of a spending spree for their children, why not?"

Muscat also laid into the Nationalist government's abuse of personal data of civil service workers, following the publication of an anonymous letter to public sector workers warning them against voting for the Labour government.