‘Labour’s engine fired up’ as leaders rally the troops

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat urged his supporters to welcome a raft of traditional Nationalist figures into the Labour Party, arguing that several PN MPs have grown frustrated at the Opposition leadership.

Addressing crowds of people at the Orpheum Theatre, Muscat said that the state of play within the Opposition resembles the Ides of March, with backstabbing the order of the day.

"The Opposition is imploding piece by piece and the consequence will be that more and more people will start joining our movement," he said. "I urge you to keep your arms wide open to welcome these new people during this period of transformation of the Labour Party into the natural party in government."

He drew parallels with how the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Mnarja to commemorate two widely different saints - St Peter who had been with Jesus from the start and St Paul who used to murder Christians. 

"By celebrating both saints on the same day, the Church sends a message to people that it is ready to welcome anyone regardless of their past," he said. "We speak with PN MPs, and many of them have voiced their frustration at having to keep saying and doing certain things that they know aren't right."

In his speech, Muscat indicated again that he will not seek re-election in six years' time if he wins next year's general election as he would have come to the end of his 15 year strategy - five years in Opposition and ten in government.

"We are now more than halfway through this strategy, and my promise to you is that the successes we achieved in these past four years are nothing compared to what is still to come in the next six," he said to raucous shouts of "Joseph, Joseph".

Muscat said that the country has now reached Dom Mintoff’s ‘promised land’, where so many jobs are being created on the island that Maltese businesses have to hire foreigners.

Joseph Muscat addressing party supporters in Gzira

He said that his vision for the next five years will be to further transform Malta into a “cosmopolitan” country that provides high-quality job opportunities and to reach out to people who are living in poverty.

“In our first five years, we have laid strong foundations. The next five years will be the best period in this country’s history.”

Labour’s electoral engine ‘switched on’

Earlier, PL deputy leader Chris Cardona said that the Labour party has switched on its electoral engine and that it will be ready to kick into election mode once Malta's tenure at the helm of the EU presidency ends in June.

“We have completed 80% of our electoral manifesto, and I have no doubt that the work we will carry out in the coming months will lend us more support,” he said. “We will announced more investments in the coming weeks, including one next week by a renowned global company.

“This government has surprised many people who hadn’t voted for us four years ago but who will jump ship next year to ensure an even greater victory for the party.”

He accused Simon Busuttil for embarking on a strategy of personal attacks against anyone who voices an opinion in favour of the Labour government.

“He is unscrupulous in his attacks against Labour officials and their relatives, supporters, and anyone who voices an opinion in favour of the government,” he said. “The Opposition is dangerous to Mario de Marco and to commercial groups like DB who they tried to break, although the person at the helm [Silvio Debono] had been part of the PN since before Simon was even born.”