PN leader Lawrence Gonzi yesterday confronted Labour journalists head-on during a press conference in Birgu, which was televised live on NET TV.
ONE journalist Charlon Gouder asked Gonzi whether he could completely exclude the possibility that people around him are involved in a scandal.
Under pressure, and fully aware that the Labour Party could at anytime come out with another “scandal”, Gonzi stood his ground.
“You tell me! Stand up and tell me. You think that we are in a TV soap opera? Tell me now!” insisted Gonzi firing his instructions to ONE journalist.
Then the Prime Minister turned to the other journalists and NET TV audience stating: “You see? He is simply fishing.”
Exactly one week from the election, Lawrence Gonzi’s press conference was focused on the differences between the two main political parties.
Underlining the successes attained during his 48-month administration, Gonzi said that to the contrary Sant’s 22-month premiership was a “non-stop politics of nasty surprises” (politika tad-daqqiet ta’ harta).
“Sant froze the EU application, introduced 33 new taxes, introduced CET, there was a tax on every medicine, your shopping bill shot up by 19%…”
According to the PN leader, Alfred Sant’s promise to halve the surcharge will plunge the country into more problems. Echoing environmentalist misgivings, Lawrence Gonzi also warned that with a low surcharge, families will waste more electricity.
Stressing that the PN’s politics is different, Gonzi presented a summary of all his last week’s speeches. Lawrence Gonzi boasted of the 20,000 new jobs created under his administration and that unemployment reached the lowest level ever.
“We will remove the departure tax and the levies on credit cards. We will scrap the TV licence and we will lower the tax bands,” Gonzi said.
Like in many more occasions throughout this campaign, Gonzi said that his government “was not perfect. There were things which we could have done in a better way.”
But again Gonzi did not mention any of his regrets in any detail, even when asked specifically by MaltaToday.
“Yes it is true. There were things, which we could have done better. I believe that as a government we could have done more on efficiency when it comes to controlling that certain projects reach completion target on time.”
Gonzi’s Saturday schedule also included a visit to the Marsa Sports Complex where he met the Malta Rugby Football Union Committee, and later he spent time nattering with kids who at that time were practising athletics.
Lawrence Gonzi pledged that if re-elected, he would make sure that the rugby team will have its own training facilities.
Afterwards there was time for a quick chat with journalists. “How about a lap?” Gonzi asked by the rugby pitch. Conscious that neither he nor any of the reporters are in very good nick, the only answer was laughter. At least an icebreaker just a few days before the real race begins.