Lawrence Gonzi underlines PN’s inclusiveness

"While we know where we want to go, Labour has no idea where it wants to take the country," Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said as he urged PN supporters to keep faith in the party's chances of winning a third successive election.

Stressing the magnitude of his administration's success in steering the country clear of the predicament suffered by other countries during the last few years' international crisis, PN leader Lawrence Gonzi underlined his party's inclusive politics, saying that the party will not interfere in people's lives.

Explaining the significance of the PN's multi-coloured logo, Gonzi said: "We have to respect diversity. We must respect everyone. They could be disabled persons, they could be persons with a different skin colour, they could be migrants, they could have a different religion to Catholicism...this is the Nationalist Party, with open doors to all, where everyone should feel welcome."

Failing to mention gay persons or civil partnerships, Gonzi also did not make reference to the party's anti-divorce stand during the 2011 divorce referendum.

Pointing out that "Labour won't work," Gonzi said that Labour's experience in government in 1996 showed that it is only capable of introducing new taxes, rising unemployment and driving the country into a financial crisis.

Gonzi said Labour's proposal to reduce energy bills by 25% in the space of one year was littered with questionable plans, contradictions and raised more questions than it answered.

"If we trust them in government they will drive the country into a wall," Gonzi said as he warned that Labour's plan could result in economic disaster and unemployment.

He added that unlike Labour, the PN's electoral programme will be centred on job creation and policies which will bolster the country's solid economy. Gonzi said the country is not in a position to spend hundreds of millions on a needles power plant proposed by Labour.

"That money should instead be used on our health and education systems," Gonzi said.

In a one to one interview in St Venera, PN leader Lawrence Gonzi said that while doing a round of home visits he came across a family with a disabled daughter which reminded him of the importance of politics in improving people's quality of life.

Without taking away the merit of Church institutions and previous governments, Gonzi said that in the last 25 years the state has introduced endless measures in aid of disabled persons such as the integration of disabled children in mainstream education.

He went on to explain that Malta can boast of the highest rate of educational integration of disabled pupils in the whole of the EU.

"I am proud of being Maltese because we show solidarity with one another... I am proud of being part of the Nationalist Party because we have always respected the value of disabled persons and we have always put the human being at the centre of our policies," Gonzi said.

Introduced to the crowd as the country's motor, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's record in the social field was highlighted in a video spot, with particular emphasis on his efforts in the disabled persons' field.

Recounting how he became chairperson of the national commission for disabled persons in 1987, Gonzi said that living conditions for disabled persons improved significantly in the last 25 years thanks to legal and political reforms introduced by successive governments.

Pointing out that his experience working with disabled persons as one which shaped my political career, Gonzi said disabled persons thought him that "they are human like the rest of us all, with their joys and sorrows and their desire to succeed in life."

In a light-hearted jibe at Labour leader Joseph Muscat's inclination to wear blue ties, Gonzi said Muscat's biography which was launched this week should have been titled 'I have seen the tie change,' in reference to Herbert Ganado's celebrated work; 'Rajt Malta Tinbidel' [I saw Malta change].