‘Abstaining is not a strong enough message’ – Muscat

Labour leader Joseph Muscat appealed to those disgruntled or jaded voters who have consciously chosen not to exercise their democratic duty to vote, urging them to reconsider and vote Labour because it sends out a stronger message.

Muscat was speaking on lifestyle programme Vie on One, where he noted that as of Monday, there were 12,000 votes still yet to be collected.

"Those who do not vote are still sending out a message," Muscat said. "I can understand their rationale. It is because perhaps they feel that they were not understood or listened to over the past years."

However Muscat cautioned the electorate against simply staying away from the polls on Election Day, insisting that "it is not a strong enough message."

He noted that the election was being contested by, on one hand, a party that has been in government almost-uninterrupted for 25 years, and on the other a party that has a realistic roadmap and that is aiming for open governance.

"Voting would send out a far stronger sign to those who have been running roughshod over the country. Voting is the best way to send out this message," the Labour leader insisted.

During the interview, Muscat also touched upon several other issues, such as Labour's advantage in the polls, as well as the campaign it has mounted over the past weeks.

"We have a long way to go. We will still have a lot of gas to burn," Muscat said, playing on Labour's energy theme. "No survey counts as much as a single vote. They grant no special advantage. We remain the underdog."

Muscat also insisted that Labour's campaign was "totally positive", and that it held back completely from "discrediting others."

"If we wanted to deliver negative message we had ample ammunition, but we chose not to," Muscat said.

Muscat also reiterated his call for voters to stop in at the polls to exercise their democratic duty as early as possible, while also urging voters to not simply stop at the first or second preference, but fill out the ballot sheet down to the last candidate.

He also dismissed what he described as the Nationalist Party's "attacks" on the past, insisting that "it only serves to show how much the Nationalist party has run out of things to say."

Muscat also spoke of labour's proposals for the teaching profession, waxing lyrical about the yearlong studying sabbatical, which Muscat said will allow teachers to both improve their teaching capabilities while also obtaining added motivation.

The Labour leader also touched upon the party's proposal to grant stipends to those students who are faced with the prospect of repeating a year.

He said that Labour's proposal is motivated by the desire to further motivate those students who suffer the setback of stumbling in the course of their studies, instead of chastising them by taking away their stipend.

Muscat also insisted that Labour would not attempt to deny that sectors such as financial services and remote gaming are doing well.

He said that Labour would allow these sectors to prosper, while addressing problem areas such as energy, economic growth, and also reducing business costs for local operators, pointing to the utility bills.

By way of example, he said that while labour is happy with the volume of tourism that is being attracted to local shores, he said that tourism operators such as restaurateurs and hoteliers are complaining of unbearable operating costs.