\u2018Team Malta or Team Borg\u2019: Abela says that is the choice voters have before them<\/p>\n
Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Robert Abela said that the choice voters have before them is one between “Team Malta” and “Team Borg”, as he also renewed his appeal to disgruntled voters not to leave their vote at home.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a packed Victor Tedesco Stadium in Hamrun, Abela said that being able to serve the country has been the greatest privilege of his life.<\/p>\n
He said that the Labour movement was full of energy and ideas, and it was with that the country has moved forward. Proof of this, Abela said, is the European Commission’s Spring Economic Forecast, which said that Malta is expected to register the strongest economic growth in the European Union until 2027.<\/p>\n
Abela pitched the election as a choice between “Team Malta” and “Team Borg.” <\/p>\n
Alex Borg, Abela said, does not even know what a fiscal forecast is or what the rate of inflation is and added that the PN had thrown proposals around at random. The PL leader also said that the workings behind some of those proposals are suspect and that there are ulterior motives behind others.<\/p>\n
“Can you trust them? The economy isn’t led by the amateurism that the PN has shown in the last few weeks. If it is led like that, it will be broken and jammed within a short period, and you will suffer. Everyone will suffer,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Who do you want as Prime Minister of Malta? Alex Borg or Robert Abela,” the PL leader said.<\/p>\n
The Labour Party leader placed emphasis on his party’s past achievements, saying that a PL government had always kept its promise. This was the case with the party’s promises to increase pensions, to increase the Children’s Allowance, to cut people’s taxes, and also to get areas such as Manoel Island, the White Rocks Complex, and Fort Campbell back to the people to turn them into green spaces.<\/p>\n
“Now that we have made it to here, do you want to continue this road with me,” Abela asked the crowd, to raucous approval. “We have come too far to stop this progress,” he continued.<\/p>\n
Abela then ran through the party’s main proposals for this election: the party’s €1,200 super-bonus, the ‘Kick Start’ programme which will see youths be tax exempt on their first €30,000 of income for their first three years in the working world, the proposed 25% interest-free loan for first-time buyers, increases to pensions, maternity leave, paternity leave, and free mental health screenings.<\/p>\n
He said that we need to improve the country’s environment, its health, the quality of life of its people, the conditions of workers, and the economy by creating more quality jobs.<\/p>\n
Abela then turned his focus to undecided voters, telling supporters to not stop trying to convince those who had not yet decided.<\/p>\n
“Knock on a door, speak to a relative, phone a friend: tell them that this country does not deserve to put everything that it has achieved at risk,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We weren’t perfect. We know that we have hurt people, but help us be a better version of ourselves,” he said.<\/p>\n
The decisive moment is here, he said. “Go out and vote Saturday, and vote early. Don’t let anyone decide for you,” Abela said.<\/p>\n
European Commissioner Glenn Micallef also addressed the mass meeting. <\/p>\n
He said that he has been all around Europe in the past months and has seen what is happening in other countries, and this had made him even more proud of what the Labour government has achieved.<\/p>\n
“In other EU countries, electricity bills are increasing. Some families find it difficult to heat their homes. Tearful parents keep things from their children and still cannot make their salaries make it to the end of the month,” he said. He said that in Malta, by contrast, bills had remained stable due to Robert Abela and his team and their collective competence in leadership.<\/p>\n
“Robert Abela believes in every single one of you. Now he needs you to give him your faith,” Micallef said.<\/p>\n
The PL also announced that it would be closing its electoral campaign with a mass meeting at the Floriana Granaries, which will also feature entertainment by world-renowned DJ Armin van Buuren. <\/p>\n