Muscat urges PL to stay grounded amid show of support

Labour Party supporters were urged to stay feet on the ground by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat amid a strong show of support in a most recent media survey.

He said that in the same way supporters should not be demoralised by fierce criticism, they should also keep their feet firmly on the ground after a MaltaToday survey found that Muscat had gained more ground in terms of trust and the gap between the two leaders has again widened.

Muscat was speaking on a live interview yesterday with PL media on the one year anniversary since the party won a second election with a landslide victory.

The election had been abruptly called after just four years in power rather than the customary five years, with May 2017 being the campaign month and the election taking place on 3 June 2017. The discrepancy had been so large that the PL got to know of its victory very early on in the day, unlike the nerve-wrecking 2008 election.

The prime minister said that this time last year the campaign machine was saying that the best time for Malta is yet to come, now one year later he is pleased to see results that surpass the ones achieved in the first legislature, which people did not think was possible.

Muscat cited the low unemployment and fastest growing economy in the EU. He praised the first national budget after the election where government had “immediately started making good on electoral manifesto pledges” and will “continue to do so” in following budgets.

Earlier last week, harsh critics of the Maltese government, MEPs Ana Gomes and Sven Giegold said they were more concerned about the rule of law in Malta than they were during the last visit to the island which was late last year.

They delivered stark warnings about Malta’s economy suffering due to reputational risk, which PL politicians did not take kindly to pointing out the convenience of such a warning when the pair are firmly against Malta’s taxation system which attracts much foreign investment.

The brutal murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia last October continues to be a dark stain on Muscat’s government on the international stage, however recent figures from surveys show that he has maintained strong support on the local front.