\u2018The Labour Party is the natural home for all Gozitans,\u2019 Abela says<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Robert Abela concluded his final rally in Gozo by telling PL supporters in Victoria that “the Labour Party is the natural home for all Gozitans.”<\/p>\n
In his final appeal to Gozitans before election day this Saturday, Abela appealed for the island to once again give him and the Labour Party its support.<\/p>\n
He commented that four years ago, in the last general election, Gozitans had given Abela “the strongest mandate that Gozo ever gave a PL leader since [Malta’s] independence.” He called on Gozitans to give the PL movement, and him, a fresh mandate.<\/p>\n
Abela called upon all his party supporters to convince others to collect their voting documents, stating that “Saturday is too important a day for Gozo.”<\/p>\n
He told Gozitans that the choice is in their hands: either to vote for the Labour Party, which, he said, “wants Gozo to become the motor of [the country’s] new prosperity, or the Nationalist Party who thinks Gozo is theirs and will take it for granted.”<\/p>\n
These comments come just days before election day, where Alex Borg is expected to emerge as Gozo’s most popular candidate. In 2022, Borg became a first-time MP as the second-most popular candidate on the island, only trailing the Minister for Gozo, Clint Camilleri, and besting long-time Gozitan MP and minister Anton Refalo by 1,106 votes.<\/p>\n
“For us to keep working for Gozo and our Malta, forget the numbers. I know that all of you here have collected your vote; convince others to collect their voting documents, keep going,” Abela said.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister said that the PN is already assuming that Gozo will turn blue again and advocated to his supporters to not let other people decide this election’s fate for them. He also instructed his party loyalists to “vote for all Gozitan PL candidates,” to “believe in them as much as they believe in you,” and to get their family, friends, and neighbours to go out and vote on this Saturday.<\/p>\n
While calling the PL Gozitans’ “natural home,” PM Abela told his supporters in attendance to trust the Labour Party once again, “so we can take the Gozo we love so much up to new levels” and “so we can have a better Gozo and be with you at every step of life.”<\/p>\n
Opening this speech at It-Tokk square in Victoria, Gozo, Prime Minister Abela received a large applause. In response to the chants, cheers, and many airhorns being sounded, he noted that 65 years prior, in the same square, “our leader was speaking here, and they tried to stop him by ringing the church bells; today, however, I think airhorns might stop me.”<\/p>\n
Through this remark, Abela referenced the time when, in May 1961, thousands of angry Gozitans did not allow former Labour Party leader Dom Mintoff to speak at his own party meeting through the endless ringing of church bells within the Gozitan capital. The arrival of many furious Gozitans, many of which reportedly came with stones and broomsticks at hand, forced Mintoff and the PL supporters who had travelled to Gozo for a party meeting to flee the scene. This event took place during a period of serious political tension in the Maltese islands, a year after Archbishop Michael Gonzi had imposed an interdict against PL executive members.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday evening, Abela said that “what was true back then still holds true today” though did not explicitly mention what points he, or Mintoff at the time, was referring to.<\/p>\n
During this speech, Abela outlined some of the principal pledges that his Labour Party has lined up for the island of Gozo, from its list of 100 proposals dedicated to Malta’s sister island. Among these pledges include making Gozo “the first island of its size in Europe to have a fully electric bus fleet,” for Victoria to have Gozo’s largest green area, to develop an interconnector between Malta and Gozo, to double new water for Gozitan farmers, and strong investment in Gozo General Hospital.<\/p>\n
He added that whenever his party calls for Malta to be put first above all else, the PL always means to include Gozo. Backing this, Abela mentioned that last year, the Gozitan economy eclipsed €1 billion in value.<\/p>\n
He also mentioned that future successes must depend on past ones and that “if we love our country, we must make our identity the source of our prosperity.”<\/p>\n