‘Five seconds will decide five years’ - Gonzi

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi drove home the message that, come 9 March, the future of the country would be in the people's hands, and that they have but "five seconds" to make the right choice.

Gonzi was speaking during a Nationalist Party rally in Rabat, Gozo, on Tuesday evening, during which he stressed somewhat hoarsely that voters should think long and hard what their choice would be on 9 March when they find themselves faced with the ballot sheet.

"On 9 March, you will be faced with the ballot sheet. On one side, it will be coloured red," Gonzi said, as the assembled party faithful in Rabat booed and jeered dutifully.

"But on the other, it will be coloured blue," Gonzi said amid the cheers of the crowd. "I trust you can recognise which is the true blue, and which is not," Gonzi added.

Gonzi however subtly underscored the fragility of the Nationalist administration, insisting that the administration's successes over the past five years, it would all nevertheless all boil down to just five seconds on 9 March.

"In five seconds, you will decide the country with the pen in your hand," Gonzi told voters.

"Five seconds, Five years. Five seconds that can keep the country on the right track, or five seconds that can throw us into a direction that nobody knows what it means," Gonzi said, in one of several asides where he warned that Labour's 'new direction' represents a dangerous and unknown variable.

"Five seconds to remember that red means unemployment and blue means work," he stressed.

"If the result is a bad one we will not be able to correct that mistake for five years, and a lot can happen in that time," Gonzi also warned.

"It is up to you," Gonzi said, pressing upon the audience that they are responsible for the future of the country, and that they must exercise their democratic duty responsibly.

"From the moment that the polls open on Saturday, the country will be in your hands. For those few seconds, you will be the country's Prime Minister, deciding the course of the country. I have faith that you will make the right choice."

Gonzi also appealed to those voters who are still undecided or who have decided to not vote, insisting that meanwhile, there are many who cannot vote, such as young children too young to have a say in the country's leadership.

"You must vote for them because your vote will give them work, health, and education," Gonzi said impassionedly.

Gonzi also reiterated his Sunday message to party faithful that they should keep looking for more and more undecided voters or first time voters to convert to the Nationalist fold.

"Be our candidates. Be our ambassadors. Be the ones to communicate this message," the Nationalist leader said, insisting that since the first time he delivered this message during Sunday's mass meeting in Sliema, "the feedback we got was amazing."

"But we have yet ways to go. There are four days to go. Keep finding two more people," Gonzi urged.

Gonzi also took the time to chastise disgruntled and dissatisfied voters against not voting against the Nationalist Party out of spite or pride.

"You might have asked for a transfer and didn't get it. You might have asked for a permit, but you didn't get it. But that is no reason to vote badly," Gonzi said, and insisted that one should nevertheless vote for the sake "of one's children, one's family, and one's future."

"Keep that in mind, because that one moment of sadness can lead to yet more sadness," Gonzi cautioned.

Gonzi however admitted that the PN administration did have its shortcomings and pledged that in the coming five years, it would overcome those limitations and do better.

"We can still do more. We can treat people with humanity, dignity and with greater respect. We will treat people not as a file, or a number, but as a person. Every so often, one can help a person, and one cannot. But we need to bring about this change in our culture," he says.

"In the coming legislature, we will make an effort so that everyone - including the Prime Minister, all ministers, department heads, and heads of authorities - will all have to understand that the citizen comes first. They must receive explanations, and they must receive the service due to them."

"We are there to be of service to the people, and not the other way around," Gonzi stressed.

The rally was also addressed by deputy party leader Simon Busuttil, who delivered a personal commitment to party faithful that with him as deputy prime minister "the Nationalist government will be closer to you than ever before."

"We will not solve everything by next Saturday. But I am making a personal commitment that like I was there for you in Europe, I will be there for you after the election," Busuttil said.