'To those that are hurt, I say, staying at home on 26 March is no solution' - Robert Abela

Robert Abela insisted that staying at home on 26 March was no solution and appealed to those that were hurt to come forward to the Labour Party.

“To those that are determined not to vote or are in doubt whether to stay at home on 26 March, I tell them that staying at home is no solution. To those that are hurt, I tell them to come to us, as we will listen and we will offer solutions,” Abela said. 

PL supporters flocked to the Żurrieq square for a Labour Party mass rally on a cold Wednesday evening. Abela strategically chose the southern locality as the last one before the MFCC finale on Thursday, since he is contesting the fifth district. Żurrieq is the most populated locality in the district. 

Having just arrived from another meeting in Xewkija, Gozo, Abela took all the time in the world to greet each and every individual that came forward to meet him. Abela took endless selfies with the crowd, keeping his mask on but shaking every pair of hands he came across. He also signed a good number of flags, fliers, pictures and even a canvas print of him and his wife.

In his opening remarks, Abela reiterated the choice was between the past and the future. “PN only seeks to bring divide and instability whilst the Labour Party showed competency, ability and stability,” Abela said. 

As he did during all his recent speeches, Abela said “you know where you stand with us” and said this it was a different story with the Nationalist Party. 

“The Opposition does not even have a spokesperson for the economy, whilst the team I was leading is tried and tested,” Abela said, adding that the PN did not even have a spokesperson for the economy. 

He touched on the public broadcasting debate which happened earlier during the day, with the crowd resorting to boos when the words “Opposition leader” were mentioned. 

Abela said that a strong mandate would give the Labour Party a humbler mandate, and warned that a victory for his party was not a foregone conclusion. 

Robert Abela tells Gozitans PN takes them for granted 

Earlier in the evening, Abela spoke in a PL meeting in Xewkija and insisted that Gozo was a priority for the Labour Party. 

“The time of Gozo at the periphery is over. Gozo will be at the centre of all our decisions and unlike the PN, we will never take it for granted,” Abela said. 

He reiterated that Gozo will be first in the Maltese archipelago to become climate neutral and would be at the forefront of the digital transformation. 

Abela took a dig at PN by saying that the PL’s proposals did not have any terms and conditions. PL has in the last weeks criticised the PN’s manifesto proposals for including ESG criteria for certain tax credit measures.

“I humbly ask you to trust us. There are those that want you to stay at home and I know there are those that are telling you there is no need for a strong mandate,” Abela said. 

“They only want to weaken you, say Gozo is theirs and take you for granted. Do not let anyone weaken your convictions. You know where you stand with us, are you ready to lose all this?” Abela told the numerous Gozitan crowd. 

He appealed to all Gozitans to vote on 26 March and vote as early as possible.