Let’s give our 200%, Labour deputy leader tells party conference

Labour Party deputy leader Daniel Micallef encouraged party delegates to get out the vote for the MEP and local council elections on June 8.

Speaking at the Labour Party’s general conference on Thursday, Micallef said the coming elections is an opportunity for people to vote ‘for Malta’ in local and European institutions.

“Whatever we do as individuals, in six weeks’ time there will be six MEPs and newly composed local councils. The choice is whether we want to participate in this decision, or if we want to leave it to others to decide for us,” he said.

All Labour Party candidates for the European elections addressed the conference on Thursday, with many jibing with a recent remark by European Parliament president Roberta Metsola.

During a plenary session in Strasbourg this week, Metsola and former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi were present to celebrate 20 years since the largest expansion of the European Union.

However, as Gonzi shook hands with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, Metsola told her that Gonzi was “my prime minister”.

Micallef noted this in his speech, himself saying that he used to call Gonzi his prime minister too, “11 years ago though”.

He said he is happier to have Robert Abela as his prime minister, arguing that Gonzi would have plunged the country into austerity during the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.