Labour congress ‘intended to disrupt Independence festivities’ - Gonzi

Speaking during a recorded interview on Radio 101, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi accused the Labour Party of holding the Congress activities in an attempt to "disrupt the Independence festivities." He insisted that Labour was trying to "alienate the population from festivities that celebrate the birth of the country."

Gonzi also reiterated the PN's version of the 'minimum wage' political tug of war currently ongoing between the PN and the PL.

He noted that despite Muscat's Living Wage proposals only two years ago, Muscat is now advocating a total wage freeze across the board reminiscent of restrictive Labour policies in evidence 30 years ago, during the 80s.

Repeating Muscat's statement uttered during the Labour congress no less than three times throughout the interview, during which the statement was also directly broadcast, Gonzi insisted that Muscat's statements were "clear" and spoke for themselves.

Gonzi claimed that despite his assertions, Muscat is well aware that the minimum wage freeze will result in economic stagnation. At the same time, Gonzi questioned Muscat's competence, and insisted that Muscatwas making such statements unaware of the consequences.

"Labour's roadmap will drive the country into a wall," he insisted, dismissing Muscat's announcement that he would be suing Gonzi and the PN for their claim. "What you see is not what you get," Gonzi insisted.

Gonzi also reiterated that the PN does not agree with the wage freeze policy, and said that the PN government took various initiatives while in government to provide benefits to those people on minimum wage.

Gonzi reiterated the PN's claim that the minimum wage increased by €1,000 in the past four years, and also pointed to training incentives to those workers on minimum wage. "At no point did we spoke of a freeze." He again recalled the wage freezes of the past 80s Labour administrations.

Gonzi also insisted that Muscat's Labour intends to implement "Mintoffian politics", claiming that statements by Labour candidate and MEP Edward Scicluna "prove" that Labour has not moved on since the economic policies of the 80s.

Gonzi also claimed that Muscat is busy "creating a cushion for the hole which he intends to create", and that he intends to fund the decreases of energy bills through a total wage freeze across the board.

At the same time, Gonzi did not refer to how the PN has been consistently avoiding committing itself on whether it plans to increase the minimum wage beyond the annual COLA increase in the upcoming Budget.

"That is why Labour Won't Work," Gonzi said, reiterating a PN electoral slogan inspired by a political campaign first unveiled by the UK Conservative Tory Party in 1979.

As the programme played statements by Labour MP Owen Bonnici where he spoke about the undesirability of increasing minimum wage as it would have unwelcome economic repercussions, Gonzi reiterated that such statements speak for themselves.

He insisted that the PN never believed in wage freezes "because it brings about a freeze in the whole country. With Labour, you never know where you stand."

At the same time, Gonzi made no reference to how the PN Government opposed minimum wage increases on similar grounds.

"Is the Labour party approaching the election without the economic competence to fashion a solid and reliable economic policy?" Gonzi asked, insisting that Labour is succumbing to populism.

Gonzi said a new PN government will "see to it that wages increase and that people have more wealth", without however dealing in specifics. He however spoke of how pensions have been extended, and referred to incentive schemes and tax break schemes such as how people are encouraged to have more children through tax breaks.

He insisted that the PN's policies have yielded results which have been recognised by the EU as well as other international entities. He referred to Moody's overall positive certification, but noted that "this does not mean that everything is perfect, but it means we're doing better than other countries."

"If you listed to Labour, everything is disastrous," Gonzi said, criticising Labour for, in his words, "painting everything in black and white and not recognising the good work done by this administration."

Gonzi said that a future PN government would be investing further on health and education, and those areas which overlap with them. He also dedicated a considerable portion of the interview to promoting the achievements and investments of the Nationalist Administration with regards to capital investment, national projects, and job creation.

He also juxtaposed what he described as "extraordinary achievements in education" with Labour's track record. He insisted that it was Labour that closed MCAST and obstacle entry of youth into university, and also pointed to how Sant's administration turned the stipend system into student loans.

He insisted that the PN's formula works because it withstood the test of the financial instability and economic slowdown, and the results achieved by a small country in a difficult situation surrounded by bigger countries which fared worse speak for themselves.

Gonzi also praised the word of teachers and emphasised the manner in which the PN Government was able to offset the proportion of early school leavers from 34% in 2000 38% in 2012 (an increase of 0.3% every year), describing this as a "huge success."

"Education is the leading sector of the Nationalist Party," Gonzi insisted.