PN hits out at Muscat’s ‘missed opportunities’ on PL's economic plans

@ Antoine Vella & Briffy Qieskhom qed tiktbu xi novella dak it-tul kollu bioex tiddefendu li min izzoqkhom. Kull ma nistaqsikhom hu jekk smajthux bir rapport ta moody dwar Malta? Ammettu ghal darba li sfortunatament ghal pajjizna mhux kollox ward u zahar tal tal PN.

The Labour U-turn on the Partnership for Peace programme is that first they said it went against neutrality and then said that it doesn't. . Neither George Vella nor Joseph Muscat told their followers anything about this radical change in policy. They only admitted it after it was exposed by Wikileaks. . If it wasn't a U-turn why did they hide it, even from their party members?

We don't have to wait for the Labour manifesto to see the light of day. In the field of the economy, it will probably be couched in the same terms as a book on economics meant for beginners. From the way Labour is talking, it is likely to go something along these lines; Labour will ensure that our economy keeps growing, ensure that unemployment is reiined in, the deficit will be brought down to sustainable levels, the sovereign debt will be curbed, tax cuts will again be introduced so that there will be more money in people's pockets thereby making it easier for them to pay the exorbitant water and electricity bills and fuel bills. In addition there will be drastic reductions in energy rates as well as in the price of diesel, petrol and gas which under the PN have made life miserable for the middle and working class etc etc Now who to it: Promising reductions in energy rates and in the price of fuel is preposterous unless the price of oil goes back to under $50 a barrel, or unless one reduces VAT and/or fuel tax. Since the former scenario is most unlikely to come about one would have tor resort to reductions in fuel tax and VAT. But then how will the Exchequer make up for the resulting shortfall in revenue? By introducing or raising taxes somewhere else eg introducing a property tax like the Italians have done, or raising the 15% tax at sources on dividends from MGS to say 25% or higher. This of course can be avoided and one can resort to increasing the budget deficit. . But Malta will not allowed be allowed to do this - the EU and Moody will come down on us like a ton of bricks - and furthermore the party would be reneging on the promise to rein in the deficit ( which is already down to 2.8% of GDP and projected to be 2.2% next year). New loans have peforce to be floated to repay the ones that reach maturity. People will not be very pleased to hear that government might not honour its promise to repay its debts to MGS holders. And we must not lose sight of the fact that most MPs hold substantial savings in MGS. So again how can one keep such promises. To raise the growth of the economy to more than the 2.7% or 2.2% does not depend on some magic wand. If the economy of our trade partners is barely showing any growth ( Eurozone average is less than 1%) we can't expect our exports to keep increasing, unless we undercut the prices of our competitors. And since our industry is not in a position to install more sophisticated plant and equipment, it is not possible for them to reduce their production costs unless they trim their costs drastically to enable them to be more competitive. And this can only be done by shedding labourand/or freezeing wages. It's all well and good to promise everything to everyone but one can't assume that the majority of the educated voters will be taken in.

@ Mr Privitera.....I will not comment on the points you tried to make or the erroneous figures you quoted. My only comment is that you would take first place for the concoction of a nice kawlata. If I were you I wouldn't open my mouth about things you don't understand like PIP, national debt, Moddy's ratings. But then one has first to know what one doesn't know. You provide us a good laugh. Even the court jester had a place in court; and in case you don't know I am not talking of a court of law, nor about a tennis court.

@Antoine Vella. I have to agree with you on this. But you know what? I agree with the PL not releasing its plans for Malta. From what I've seen, yes, the PL is doing the right thing. Not because it hasn't got any plans, but because the PN will copy (copycats) the ideas from the plan and release them, with a few changes, as their own. They did once, they can do it again. Another thing is, why should the PL release its plans when the election has nearly two years more to go! It's material for the election! So I guess, you have to wait that long to know what the plans will be. And for another, through experience, we all know that the PN has ready its cohorts for any semblance of an idea from the PL side, it will be immediately shot down and proved worthless, even if it's useful for the country. So, in toto, I guess, that whilst I agree with y ou on some, I totally disagree on the other. About the PfP. What Dr. George Vella said was that the PM put Malta back in the organisation illegally. The PM should have put the application through Parliament not before. As for the PL, while not agreeing with the PfP, he said that this organisation is not incompatible with our Neutrality Clause. So where is the U-Turn you're blabbering about?

What difference does it make "today" what Labour's economical policy is, when the PN has been in power for over 24 years and are solely responsible for the 5 billion euro national debt.

Edyjoyce (?), are you aware that the MLP-PL also told the Americans that it now supports the NATO programme, Partnership for Peace? . Did they ask for your opinion or even inform you of this U-turn? . There are two main reasons why the PL does not like to speak about its policies: a) It doesn't have any policies to speak about. b) It's afraid that if it mentions any policy, this will be torn to shreds by the PN.

Sur Antoine Vella: Jekk qalbek taharqek daqshekk biex tkun taf minn issa x'se jghamel Dr. Joseph Muscat, meta l-elezzjoni ghad fadlilha sentejn, kif ma tisthix meta taf li Gonzi la lilek u lil ebda malti u Ghawdxi ma kien qallek li jekk il-PN jirbah l-elezzjoni tal- 2008 KIEN SE JDHHAL LIL MALTA FIL-PFP ! Ara lil Ambaxxatrici Amerikana kien qallha xahrejn qabel l-elezzjoni izda lill-poplu Malti ma qallu XEJN ! Anzi fil-programm elettorali - biex insemmilek kas wiehed biss- kien wieghed li se jzomm is-sussidju fuq il-kont tad-dawl, biex wara l-elezzjoni NEHHA S-SUSSIDJU KOLLU !! Jigifieri Gonzi, mhux biss ma jghidx x'se jaghmel qabel l-elezzjoni izda sahansitra, anke dak li jghid li se jaghmel, gieli jghamel IL-KONTRA WARA l-ELEZZJONI !!! Iftah mohhol Antoine, bhal ma qed jghamlu hafna nazzjonalisti genwini. Eddy Privitera

The PN said; " After all, it was he who for years warned Malta tjat EU membership would spell the ruin of our economy - until he was proved terribly wrong ". If Dr. Muscat and all those who,like me, the PL, CNI etc.. were " terribly wrong ", how come Moody's downgraded Malta's economy for the first time ? No such downgrading had ever happened when Malta was still an independent country outside the EU ! If EU membership and the euro were supposed to be the magic wand which European countries needed to cure economic ills, how come in Europe we only hear of EU states who are in the eurozone who are on the verge of economic and financial collapse ?? If through EU membership the Maltese people were promised hundreds of millions of euros per year (" LM 100 fis-sena ")how come Malta's national debt has soared to around 450 BILLION euros ? The reason for this which the PN government, Dr. Simon Busutil and the PN's apologists in the media never mention, is because WE ARE PAYNG MUCH MORE, both directly and indirectly, due to malta's EU membership ! This was revealed by 'OPEN EUROPE' - a European organisation which carries out investigations about each EU member state, which has found out that it is costing Malta 72 '.5 million euros per year besides the money we pay directly to the EU budget ! The government NEVER contested 'Open Europe's report ! Eddy Privitera

sur Antoine Vella Jien ma' nafx kif inti m'intix konsulent ta' Gonzipn (aka Pinocchio). Hekk jew b'hekk Gonzipn ghandu skoss pensjonanti mieghu mhux hazin........basta nazzjonalisti!! Jekk xejn tidher li tifhem sew fil-buffi.

Bhas soltu, il PN jitfa il htijja fuq haddiehor u ma jippruvax jifhem ezattament il messagg ta Moody's. Fil gvern hemm huma u ma jippretendux lil Joseph jghidilhom kif se jsolvi dawn il problemi. Issa meta jasal iz zmien inkunu nafu.

To all the anonymous Labour Elves who, as usual miss the point. . Joseph Muscat should explain what are his policies, not for the benefit of the government but so that all Maltese will know what the clown has in mind. . All he does is moan while saying nothing of substance to convince the electorate that he is better than Gonzi.

gs, il-finanzi fis-sod fil-bwiet tal-pm,il-ministri, is-segretarji parlamentari u c-crieki tal-hbieb qeghdin. Il-maggoranza tal-poplu kontijiet, taxxi, gholi tal-hajja u djun ghandhom.

Wenz we will let you know when the time comes, for the time being you and madona boy keep stewing. Fejnom il finnazi fis sod.

HOW IRRELEVANT IS THIS. THE PN ARE IN GOVERNMENT!!

Isn't better for the PN to try and understand Moody's warning to the government! Now really what can the PN teach us about economy when thanks to them we are really in deep sh__t!.

PN=fear communication...they can't wait for some proposals to help them save the day! But everything in good time....