[LIVE] Follow the Nationalist mass meeting in Sliema from our live-blog

Welcome to our live-blog of the Nationalist Party's mass meeting from Sliema. REFRESH here for updates.

5:33pm As Gonzi ends his speech on a high, the buoyant crowd gives the PN leader a great send off. Flares are lit and the flags are flying high. Off we go...thanks for following us.

5:30pm "We always have been a party that loved the country. I only ask one thing. Its a question of choice. You either put everything at risk or choose to confirm your trust in the PN. Only five days are left and f you here and the others watching us from home reach out to two other persons and relay our message and persuade them to vote PN than on 9 March we will vote and celebrate on 10 March. But we have to do this, I trust you with this chore, you trusted us five years ago, we entrust you with this for the next five years. If we do it, everything will be possible, we will have a safe and secure future, we wil have jobs, education and health."   

5:26pm "I understand that we had a number of challenges which we mostly overcame. However, I must admit that we did not always look beyond the big picture. If we are entrusted to govern the country for a number five years, we must make sure that we change the way we relate to the people. We want everyone to be treated respectfully and in a dignified way, we must put the individual at the centre of our policies. When people are in the right they must be given their dues, when they are not right we must give them a dignified explanation."

5:20pm Gonzi adds "What more could we have done for our students at Mcast, University and ITS. This was only possible because of the sound economy. That is what is at stake on 9 March, do you want to keep all this or do you want tom risk losing it all?"

5:17pm He is now going through the PN's fulfilled promises on education and health. "If you vote PN we will be able to build on this and continue our programme. Labour talks about roadmaps, we talk about facts, we will build seven new schools in the next seven years."

5:14pm "Joseph Muscat is only capable of giving us bad advice...he was wrong on EU membership, on the eurozone, on Cyprus. When you give wrong advice from the Opposition benches nothing changes, but if you take bad decisions in government everybody will suffer, a government cannot afford ton commit any mistakes."

5:11pm "Do not risk...even if you are tempted to vote Labour...I tell you how can you vote for somebody who is caught in a tie warp, who still believes that the dry docks should not have been closed. We already know what kind of advice Joseph Muscat gave us. He told me to model our economy on Cyprus...and we all know that Cyprus hit a brick wall while Malta remained strong."

5:09pm "Do not give up, do not be disheartened, we have always created jobs for you and we will continue creating jobs for you. Jobs are the be all and end all. When you go vote remember that the blue box on the ballot paper means jobs, the red box means unemployment. Do not be fooled. Do not be fooled by who is trying to give the red a tinge of blue, but what was red remains red. Jobs are not created by roadmaps but jobs are created by concrete action."

5:04pm "Five years ago you trusted us to lead the country...today we give you back a country with the highest number of people in employment, a country which created jobs in aviation, financial services, online gaming, IT and now in bio-technology. We are creating jobs for you the young people and workers."

5:01pm "On 9 March remember that you will deciding your fate, your future. You, the young people will be deciding who will be leading the country. Five years can make a massive difference in your lives. Remember that if you are getting married, the first five years will make a huge difference for you. If you are raising children, five years will make a huge difference in your children's' lives. Remember that we have always kept your children in mind. Do not risk losing all we have achieved. We can decide to either remain on track or change direction and put everything at risk. However I trust you, I trust that you will make the right choice."

4:58pm "A wrong decision on 9 March will not be go back...we have made the right decisions while others decided to stand aside and shy away from taking a stand," he adds in reference to the last five years, including the Libyan conflict.

4:55pm Addressing the younger electorate, he says "We have always believed in you."

4:53pm Thanking his predecessor Fenech Adami, Gonzi says  "Do not put our heritage at risk. Do not put all we have achieved in these years at risk."

4:51pm He thanks the massive crowd "in the heart of Sliema...the cradle of the 10^th district, in the cradle where the PN was always at heart of Sliema residents, and the PN always held these residents in its heart." In clear attempt to rekindle the PN supporters' optimism he salutes former PN stalwarts, Edie Fenech Adami, Gwido de Marco, George Bonello de Puis and Michael Refalo.

4:49pm Gonzi's turn to address the crowd...the National Anthem is played out and in pre-1987 fashion, the crowd makes the victory sign.

4:48pm "Let us shoulder the responsibility and do something for the country. Let us grant our country a victory. Let's remain on track, let us make sure that what is right is victorious."

4:46pm Your vote is not a weapon to punish somebody. Your vote is a tool to open up the future opportunities. I ask you to put aside your personal disappointments and put the national interest vote and vote PN. If the PN wins the country wins and your children, your family an d your friends win."

4:45pm "If the election is only about economic management we would win hands down. But there other persons who were let down and who are disappointed. In this very district there are persons who feel this way. I have met these people with my people and listen carefully to their grievances.  I therefore  make a personal pledge, we will be there for you before and after 9 March.

4:42pm Talking on Cyprus in chorus with the crowd Busuttil says, the Mediterranean island "crashed into the wal" adding that they brought the wall down. "If Labour is elected in Malta we will take a downward turn and crash into the wall...to remain on the right track we have to go out in hordes and vote PN on 9 March."

4:40pm "The other choice is Labour, who pig headedly wants to change direction, like other countries did and who ended up hitting a brick wall," he says, explaining that Socialist governments in Greece, Spain, and Cyprus are going through unprecedented economic woes and record unemployment and reductions in social benefits.

4:35pm "We are at a crossroads, you can vote for the PN and choose the right direction which gave you education, quality health services, a country respected in Europe and beyond. We will give you back a country on a sound footing, a first world country, a country with second largest growth rate in the EU...we are now committing ourselves to make another quality leap. We are binding ourselves to create new jobs. We are the only party promising to further reduce taxes."

4:32pm Busuttil starts his address...thanking the young people, students and Sliema residents telling the latter "thank you for always being there for the Nationalist Party". This is met by chants of "Nazzjonalisti, Nazzjonalisti!"

He is now addressing a 18 year-old-girl, Sophie, present at the meeting who underwent treatment abroad for rare condition, saying that she is now studying medicine and will be voting for the firt time in her life and she is voting PN. "Thank you for being here with us, I promise that we will always be there for you."

4:23pm A beaming PN leader Lawrence Gonzi is now on stage too...he soaks in the crowd's reverence as young and old PN supporters chant his name.

4:18pm The Nationalist anthem is echoing in the streets of the PN heartland as thousands of supporters wave EU and party flags. Busuttil is on stage, he is expected to start his speech in seconds.

4:09pm The Prime Minister accompanied by his wife Kate and Busuttil are now out shaking hands and hi-fiving the persons beneath the stage. Gonzi finds time to pose for pictures with children and persons with disability.

4:05pm PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil just passed by to say hello to the journalists backstage. A few minutes ago a smiling Prime Minister arrived with his entourage and was rushed to his trailer behind the stage.

3:57pm The massive crowd, oozing confidence and optimism, shows that the two big parties are capable of mobilising thousands of people even if they trail behind in the polls and are the clear underdog.  

3:53pm The PN party in Sliema is in full swing...the meeting at the heart of the Nationalist fortress should serve as a much needed morale booster. Modern Talking's 'Take the chance' is welcomed with a deafening roar. 

3:44pm Internet is slow...hopefully it will be back to normal shortly. Fingers crossed...promise.

3:29pm Good afternoon! A mammoth crowd has gathered in Sliema for the last Sunday mass meeting of the campaign. PN supporters are everywhere...balconies, roofs and in the side streets of Dingli Street. Surely the biggest crowd the PN has managed to attract in nine weeks.