Gonzi tells Muscat: ‘Don’t dare tarnish our reputation’

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning took the Labour Party to task over the meeting it held with the North Korean ambassador, the Labour delegation in Libya and its past.

Stopping short of mentioning the media reports over PL leader Joseph Muscat's meeting with ambassador Han Tae Song, the Prime Minister said the Nationalist Party never held meeting behind closed doors.

"Our meetings have always been public and we have always made our position clear, whatever the issue was," Gonzi told his party faithful gathered in Qawra.

During the past days, Muscat was under fire by the PN media for meeting the North Korean ambassador, without publicising the event.

Gonzi added that people "shouldn't trust those who meet people secretly and who are only keen on depicting everything negatively".

Gonzi went on to refer to the Libyan uprising and said that government had been the first from the international community to condemn the attacks on the civilians.

The Prime Minister added that Muscat - who is currently heading a delegation in Libya - had failed to condemn the attacks and had waited for a more opportune time.

"Now Dr Muscat, don't you dare ruin the good reputation which we have built," Gonzi said.

Hailing the employment and education sectors, Gonzi said it was important for government to remind what has been achieved so far, since "the Opposition insists on suggesting that we are living in a complete disaster".

Gonzi said that while Malta was listed as one of the countries with the lowest taxes on wages, government guaranteed that the income from the taxes is spent in health, education and employment.

"What differentiates us from the Labour Party is that we are not afraid to take the difficult decisions. Our policy is 'trust the workers and employers'; the PL's policy is to induce distrust," he said.

Gonzi went on to add that while government invested in technology, internet and computers, the Labour Party had been against importing computers, "afraid it would replace the workers".

Gonzi added that the easiest thing to do was to employ people with the public sector, but with the end result of ruining the economy.

"The PL could not have been proven more wrong on its polices than in the past years. We managed to create thousands of job places and protect thousands of others in the private sector," he said.