Labour congress to approve guidelines for PL electoral manifesto

The first initiative of its kind in Malta, the Labour Party will be holding a congress in a month's time for the approval of the guidelines on which their electoral manifesto will be based.

Launching the programme at the Labour's headquarters, leader Jospeh Muscat said that as a movement, the PL wanted all of its members to have a say.

"The congress is a new tool by which the people can voice their opinions on the major decisions which affect them," Muscat told the press.

He said the manifesto was not a wish list but a roadmap for Malta's economic growth for the coming years.

Muscat said the meetings he had been holding with NGOs, social partners and members of the civil society were aimed at generating ideas.

"During the congress, we will be discussing themes which we believe are the bread and butter issues. We are a movement, away from the set up of the traditional political party where the few of the top decide alone," he said, adding that the PL was venturing into uncharted waters with this initiative.

Lydia Abela, the PL's executive secretary, said that the congress was part of the party's statutory reform aimed at providing a platform by which party members can voice their opinions and convey their messages.

"Party members are not only there to pay their membership and act as a financial income," she said.

President Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi said that the congress, to start on 14 September and close on 23 September, will include various activities.

Meanwhile, asked to comment on the situation within the Nationalist Party, Muscat said little did the PL care about what was going on within the rival party.

"We are focused on where we want this country to go. On the other hand, the PN is in a frenzy. Unlike them, we don't focus our press conferences to hit out at the other parties," he said.