[WATCH] Gonzi steers clear of Sliema councillor's 'PL-phobia' comments

Addressing party faithful in Sliema six days before the local councils elections, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the electorate should place its trust in the Nationalist candidates.

"It's easy to see how those councillors who worked with prudence and integrity achieved good results, while other local councils left their localities abandoned," Gonzi said this morning.

But while he was hailing the works carried out in Sliema, Gonzi steered away from commenting over recent discriminatory comments made by PN incumbent for Sliema elections Julian Galea.

Galea made headlines after the Labour's Party media revealed a secret recording of the Sliema councillor talking of his "phobia" of Labourites. He yesterday issued an apology and also posted it on his Facebook wall.

Galea, who was present for this morning's debate, sat behind the Prime Minister together with the rest of the candidates contesting the elections in Sliema. He also received a round of applause from those gathered under the tent when his name was read out.

Referring to the ongoing criticism over the Mosta local council, the Prime Minister said PL leader Joseph Muscat failed for four years to intervene in a council that was torn with internal fighting.

"Muscat let his council fall into ridicule when the mayor of Mosta ordered his workers to tear and burn away pages from the magazines published by the local council, because an article had criticised the mayor's work," he said.

The Prime Minister recounted how it was after he spoke with a family from Mosta, that had a child with special needs, that he thought about the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme.

"But while Mosta had been my inspiration, the same cannot be said for Muscat. The families were abandoned and the locality left in a disastrous state. As a government we tried to intervene and give them the best. We built a new school and refurbished the football ground," Gonzi said.

"We want the best for our families. We will always work to give them the best."

He went on to ask where PL deputy leader Anglu Farrugia - who hails from Mosta - had been while the Mosta local council degenerated.

"While Muscat was accusing me of being clutched on to power, he was clutching on to power in Mosta," Gonzi said. "The PN is clutched on to the people."

He added that because the PN recognised the suffering of families and businesses, government took the decision to shoulder the latest increases in the price of oil, instead of increasing the utility bills.

The Prime Minister was also referring to the downgrade of Enemalta by Standard & Poor's. Gonzi said that part of the downgrade was because government insisted on not increasing water and electricity bills.

Pressed by journalists at the end of the political activity, PN secretary general Paul Borg Olivier said he and the party had nothing to add to the comments made by Julian Galea.

"The PN has already issued a statement condemning Galea's comments. Galea also apologised for his comments," he said.

Borg Olivier failed to comment when asked whether Galea should withdraw his candidature.