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Last few hours of campaigning before "reflection"
By MaltaMedia News
Mar 6, 2008 - 10:38:44 PM
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In the last few hours of the electoral campaign, the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party wrapped up their respective campaigns with three mass meetings, in Floriana for the PN and in Xewkija and Pembroke for the MLP, whilst the Mistra controversy and the arrest warrants presented to Alternattiva Demokratika’s Chairperson, Dr Harry Vassallo, on Wednesday continued to dominate the news.
As to the Mistra controversy, the MLP published a document which it presented as the contract for the lease of land at Mistra belonging to and signed by Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando for the development of a disco.
Dr Pullicino Orlando retaliated by saying that the document presented y the MLP is only a contract of lease of the land and not a contract for the development of a disco. Later, Dr Pullicino Orlando met the Police Commissioner and handed him a copy of this document because, he said, he had nothing to hide.
The Police Commissioner also contributed to the controversy surrounding the issue of arrest warrants to Dr Harry Vassallo and circulated the police’s version of how Dr Vassallo was informed of the arrest warrants.
A delegation from Alleanza Nazzjonali visited commercial establishments in Gozo on Thursday morning. There, party leader, Dr Josie Muscat said that AN wants to address the “democratic deficit” that Malta is suffering from.
Later on Thursday evening, in a television debate between Dr Gonzi and Dr Sant, the parties’ leaders repeatedly exchanged accusations on competency and honesty. Dr Gonzi appealed to the electorate to consider what is best for the country. “We did make mistakes,” he admitted, “but we were determined to do our part genuinely and honestly.”
“We are not perfect,” he said “but there is no doubt that we have reached the highest possible standards in these last four years.”
The debate had not yet finished when an irked AD issued a statement claiming that PM Gonzi was yet again trying to damage AD’s reputation by stating that Dr Vassallo had collected VAT from people and failed to pass it on to the Department of VAT. This, AD said, is a most blatant lie.
The Green party also pointed out that during the last television debate, Dr Gonzi had refused to address the fact that Dr Vassallo first heard of the arrest warrants from PN journalists.
During the same debate, Dr Sant questioned the Prime Minister’s integrity asking “Who is going to believe that he, the country’s prime minister, did not know of Harry Vassallo’s arrest warrants?” and accused the PN of fascist tactics.
The VAT returns have been used for political blackmail against Dr Vassallo and is creating victims from the self-employed and small entrepreneurs. “Bureacracy is corruption,” Dr Sant said, “that’s why it’s important to have good governance.”
The campaign, started on Monday Feb 4th, will come to a close on Thursday at midnight followed by a “day of reflection”.
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
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Latest update:
Mar 7, 2008 - 5:58:37 PM CET
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