Malta, The Malta Independent, Inglês

Prime Minister Robert Abela said that the Labour Party’s next electoral manifesto will be more ambitious than the last, which featured 1,000 proposals of which, the government has implemented over 80%, he said.

“Four years ago, we were very ambitious in our electoral manifesto,” the Prime Minister said, “Now, the time has come to become even more ambitious.”

On Friday evening, the Prime Minister and several other speakers closed the Labour Party’s six-day-long Congress, in which the party invited everyone around the Maltese islands to share their ideas to help it write its next electoral manifesto.

The congress was themed around promoting the vision of having “a greater Malta” (Malta Aqwa).

During his closing speech, the Prime Minister said that “this congress confirms that this party is here for everyone,” calling it and the discussions within it as “a factory of ideas.”

He said that this congress, in the eyes of Maltese and Gozitans, displayed “the greatest guarantee needed” to show that his Labour Party is capable of reaching the aims envisioned in Malta’s Vision 2050 “for a greater Malta.”

Thanking everyone who took part in the congress, Abela said that while the Labour Party wants to guarantee long-term stability, it must remain to be the party open to new ideas.

He pledged that the ideas pitched during this congress will be included in the party’s next manifesto, which he said will be written by the people, to be implemented.

During this speech, Abela said that his government will be the one to reduce tax burdens from businesses and families, the government that shares economic prosperity across all corners of the Maltese islands, the one that will continue investing in the social sector, and the one to invest in youths to progress and become homeowners.

The Prime Minister said that despite all the challenges his administration has faced, his team has remained focused to write the nation’s next chapter. He also said that after 13 years of Labour governments, the PL remains as ambitious as ever.

“It is like we are entering Castile for our first day of work,” he said.

Despite heavy speculation mounting over recent weeks, the Prime Minister did not use his prerogative to announce the date for the next general election during this event.

Only the PL can provide the leadership to guarantee a stable and growing economy, PM says

The Prime Minister said that only the Labour Party, through its “competent, and united team” can provide the leadership necessary to guarantee that Malta retains a stable and growing economy.

He said this after lambasting the Opposition’s proposals for the Maltese economy and energy sector, particularly surrounding national energy subsidies, and after listing some economic feats his government has achieved under his leadership.

Abela told party members that despite multiple international crises sprouting over this past legislature, his Labour government introduced “two giant successive tax cuts”; meanwhile, the last PN government did not implement the single tax cut it had promised in its own electoral manifesto in the last “excuse of a quarter-crisis, by comparison,” that the PN administration had faced well over a decade ago.

“We faced greater crises and we still implemented tax cuts. We gave the people €140 million and then gave a bigger tax cut then the first,” he said.

Abela said that his administration has implemented these measures with great responsibility because it understands how the economy works and how the people are, adding that “the economy grows when you invest in the people.”

Earlier in his speech, he criticised the Opposition for preaching austerity policies in times of financial crisis, stating that such policies have remained consistent despite different PN leaders over the years.

“The Opposition leader said he puts people at the centre; more like at the centre of burdens,” Abela said, “that is what they believed, it is what they believe, and it is what they will keep believing.”

Contrarily, Abela maintained that the PL will not change course on its stance on energy subsidies and that “nothing will stop us.”

He also condemned PN delegates for “scaremongering” that Malta’s gas supply will run out by this August, when, they could not list the petrol and diesel prices in Malta when asked by media, despite these prices being frozen for months now.

Abela said that while other European countries have been “battered” by the present external shocks and are discussing energy lockdowns, Malta’s “war chest” is ready and “fuller than ever,” reiterating that €250 million has been put aside to guarantee present fiscal policies, such as the energy subsidies.

Throughout his speech, similarly to other speakers during this congress’ closing, the Prime Minister told viewers to look to the Labour Party “when the time comes” and that “that choice is very important, as nothing is guaranteed.”

He concluded that people know where they stand and in which direction Malta is headed towards with the Labour Party in charge.

Abela also commended his team, who he said is eager to take the country to the “next level.”