Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1462138
NEWS 4 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 21 MARCH 2022 PHOTOGRAPHY RAY ATTARD Abela: 'Only Labour can be trusted with Malta's future' K ARL AZZOPARDI PRIME Minister Robert Abe- la yesterday stressed yet again that the Labour Party was the only party which should be trusted with country's future. Delivering his speech to a packed hall at the Malta Fairs Convention Centre during the 2022 general election's final rally, Abela focused his speech on the PL's "unity", in compar- ison to the PN's "divide". "How can you trust someone who is desperate for political power? Are you ready to trust someone who is not even able to lead their own party?" he told supporters. Abela recalled the party's leadership election back in 2020, and how his first chal- lenge was that of keeping the party united. "We understood that the ideal of the party was bigger than any individual. Imagine being a newly-elect- ed Prime Minister, and then faced with a crisis of that mag- nitude," he said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic. "But I had a good team around me, which helped me face the sit- uation." He said that during the pan- demic, the PN failed to sup- port government in "its battle against COVID-19". "We remember what the PN tried to tell us in the pandem- ic. They wanted us to go for a full lockdown, they wanted us to spend everything the coun- try had, but we discussed with experts and we took the deci- sions which were needed," he said. "And in the end, we were proven right." He called out the PN's elec- toral manifesto, reiterating previous statements that they changed versions "countless times". "First, they told us we wouldn't have bendy busses, then they told us the trackless tram will take up one lane, then they told us we would need to narrow lanes," he said. "If in five years they were not able to prepare a manifesto, are you ready to trust them with the country's leadership?" He said the PL's duty as a movement is to offer solutions, and that those who "do not live for change" do not deserve to be in government. "The Op- position's only consistency is it opposes everything. People want someone who proposes to them." Reacting to polling surveys, Abela told supporters that the election starts at "nil-nil". "Do not leave up to chance. To determine your country's future, you have to vote. If you want the country to move for- ward, you have to vote for the Labour Party," he said. He also warned supporters that the PN will take one last shot at "dividing the country". "In the face of such divide we have to remain positive," he said. Addressing the event, PL dep- uty leader and Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne also re- called the 2020 leadership race with rival Robert Abela. "By the next day, Robert found me there to support him," he said. "Politics should not divide us, it should unite us." He said now that both elec- toral manifestos are out, every- body can compare the two par- ties' proposals. "One has the proposals to take Malta to the future, and one has proposals no one believes." He said the country is lucky to not have societal divides. "We don't have a divide be- tween races, religions or lan- guage. We are all proud to be Maltese, and we must remain united, because when we are divided, we all lose out." kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt