Labour’s energy plans ‘déjà vu’ of 1996 VAT fiasco, Gonzi warns

Malta's decision on 9 March will be shaping the island's future for the next five years, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told supporters in Sliema tonight, saying the people's choice lay between his party's "safe pair of hands" or Labour's negative record in government and Opposition.

Summing up Labour's record in as one of instability and uncertainty, Gonzi reminded his audience of Labour's decision to freeze EU membership, remove VAT and cut stipends in the short-lived Alfred Sant administration of 1996-1998.

"Be careful, a wrong decision could imperil all we have achieved in the last five years. Let's not take that for granted," Gonzi said as he compared Malta's economic stability, to the troubles faced by other European countries during the international crisis.  

"Labour does not work. Labour only means unemployment, deficit and debt. On the other hand, we faced the toughest challenges in the last five years and yet we emerged victorious."

Gonzi also accused Labour of playing hide-and-seek with the electorate, warning that the party was resorting to the same gimmicks employed by the Sant-led party of 1996. Speaking of the previous Labour government's fiasco in removing VAT, Gonzi said Labour's plan to reduce utility rates were yet another "déjà-vu".

"How can you hold a press conference without backing up such a drastic decision, which will affect the country's energy policy for twenty, thirty years, with documents, figures and workings? What assurances do we have on stable gas prices? What assurances do we have over the feasibility of this project? A million questions crop up from Labour's proposal," Gonzi said.   

He also said it was always the government's plan to convert the Delimara plant to gas from heavy fuel oil and connect Malta to the European energy grid as part of its efforts to reduce energy costs. "In 1996 we learnt the hard way. This time we will not commit the same mistake," Gonzi reassured the party faithful.

It was the PN's first outdoors activity since the official start of the campaign, where a sizeable and enthusiastic crowd from the traditional stronghold of Sliema greeted the Nationalist leader.

Auguring for a serene electoral campaign, Gonzi expressed hope that the country will hold a discussion on ideas and who should govern the year for the next five years.

"Five years is a long time. Will we have a country that creates the same amount of jobs?" Gonzi asked as he quoted figures issued on Tuesday on the participation rate in the workforce which among others showed an 8% increase in female participation, which has now reached 44%.  

"9 March is all about a choice. We either choose to build on the successes we enjoyed in job creation and in the economy or else we choose the other side [Labour] which is out of tune and overtly negative," the PN leader said.