Gonzi dubs Labour the ‘historic author of disaster’

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi cautioned listeners on party radio 101FM that a change of government in the hands of Labour would only deliver the country to the "authors of past disasters", warning of higher taxation and soaring unemployment under a future Labour government.

In a dissection of Labour's manifesto, Gonzi criticised the Opposition for the "emptiness" of an electoral programme that was devoid of proposals on jobs, and took Labour leader Joseph Muscat to task for questioning the Nationalist government's job creation efforts.

"Labour does not want to admit that we have managed to create 20,000 jobs. Had we not created this amount of jobs, we would have long queues of people registering for work. Our job creation figures have been confirmed statistically by the Labour Force Survey and Eurostat... and we are committing ourselves to create 25,000 more jobs over the next five years," Gonzi said.

Gonzi said the electorate should be mindful of his government's efforts in negotiations at the European Council for the multiannual financial framework in which Malta was awarded a total estimate of €1.12 billion in EU funds.

"Few people actually comprehend the enormity of this figure... using this money with the necessary prudence, we will create the economic growth needed to increase jobs, increase revenue for the government, and leave more money in people's pockets," Gonzi said.

The prime minister also took to task former Labour leaders and MPs, criticising the previous Alfred Sant administration for its introduction of "33 new taxes" and presiding over higher unemployment and deficit figures.

"When Karmenu Vella, who wrote the Labour manifesto, was himself a minister, he presided over unemployment figures of some 10,000 people," he said of the minister who served under two Labour administrations.

"Labour's decisions will push us into a financial crisis, because they will introduce new taxes to finance their costly decisions. We already have a plan as to how to create 25,000 jobs over the next five years, partly by using the money we have brought from the EU budget."

Gonzi said he understood people's perception that the country "needed change" but questioned those who believe the Nationalists have been in power for 25 years.

"People should not forget that it was only 14 years ago that Labour's 22-month government was in power. The last time we trusted the country in their hands we witnessed the disaster of a high deficit, high unemployment figures, and the freezing of our EU membership application, much to our global embarrassment.

"Labour are managing to make us forget, but this does not change history... our choice here is whether a decision to change will be one for the better or the worse. My advice to young voters is that it has always been the PN to be the agent of change in this country, the party that authored the biggest changes in Malta.

"Labour has historically been the party to have brought the wrong kind of change: people finding jobs only in disciplined corps under Dom Mintoff; the need for a sponsor to enter university under Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici; risking the closure of private schools under Mifsud Bonnici; freezing our EU membership application under Sant; and now Joseph Muscat telling to 'change direction and do the same like Cyprus'. But just look at the state of Cyprus today," Gonzi said.