 |
10 days to the general elections
By MaltaMedia News
Feb 27, 2008 - 8:21:59 PM
|
|
As general elections approach the Opposition Leader and Leader of the Malta Labour Party Dr Alfred Sant presented the press with a Cabinet memo called ‘Health Financing Reform’ and dated December 2004, which, he said, revealed how Cabinet was in agreement about the introduction of fees for healthcare.
In the course of the conference Dr Sant showed video clips which show Prime Minister Gonzi denying that he ever had discussions in Cabinet about imposing fees on healthcare. Dr Sant also pointed out that what the Nationalist Party is saying is that healthcare is free for now, which does not mean that it will remain free.
Dr Sant said this raises the question of the public’s trust and that people should not be deceived any longer.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's engagements on Wednesday started with a business breakfast where he delivered a presentation called “More and Better Jobs” during which he stated that economic growth reached over 4% in 2007 and this will allow Malta to become an EU and Mediterranean centre of excellence in various sectors.
Lower tax, as the Nationalist party is proposing, will result in faster economic growth, Dr Gonzi said, whilst reducing the surcharge on utility bills, as the Labour party is promising the electorate, would only encourage people to be wasteful.
Dr Gonzi said his party would make sure that potential investors found the climate they needed within which to operate productively. He also said that the government's aim was to get out of direct participation in business and pledged to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy.
Then in the afternoon Dr Gonzi called an urgent press conference to deny his government ever
presented proposals to make public health services against payment. He insisted that the document quoted by Dr Sant was only a "detailed policy proposal" presented to the Cabinet "to enable it to take definitive decisions" but ultimately this document was never presented to the Cabinet for discussion.
Alternattiva Demokratika in the evening claimed MEPA auditor proved AD right when the party objected to the permit given to contractor Charles Polidano to build a supermarket outside the development zone in Safi. AD said the auditor confirmed the permit was issued illegally and therefore not valid. It urged Prime Minister Gonzi to take steps and warned it is ready to pursue legal action to make sure the law is upheld.
As from Wednesday voting documents can be collected from police stations, the Electoral Commission said. Over 20,000 documents have not yet been distributed.
For more details, including pictures and videos of the electoral campaign 2008, see MaltaMedia's special feature on the 2008 Malta General Elections.
© Copyright 2008 by MaltaMedia.com
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Top of Page
|
|
|
Latest update:
Feb 28, 2008 - 7:07:18 PM CET
|
