Watch: ‘Society Is Changing Rapidly And We Need To Listen More Than Ever’, Abela Tells Bormla Mass Rally
Malta’s priorities have changed and society has rapidly changed but the Labour Party is ready to listen more than before, Prime Minister Robert Abela has said in a mass rally organised days after the full election results were published.
“If society is changing, then the government needs to recognise this and reply to the expectations and aspirations of each and every one of you,” Abela told his followers and fellow politicians gathered in Bormla this morning. “I’ve received so many messages and emails from people, with everyone bringing forward their points and arguments, all from different perspectives but all so valid.”
“There are a lot of people who stayed at home on 8th June, and a lot of them reached out to me,” Abela said. “And when we see all of this, the first question we need to ask is whether we have the courage to take the necessary decisions. And the reply there is clear – yes, we have the courage, desire and enthusiasm.”
“The priorities of 10 years ago are not today’s priorities,” Abela warned. “But we can only talk about different priorities because we’ve always managed to bring about positive changes. But even that isn’t enough.”
“The nation expects more of us,” the prime minister continued, making a brief reference to “environment progress” that needs to be made, and saying “a shift in mentality has to start with me”.
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“I want us to have a frank debate, and we cannot take anyone or anything for granted,” Abela continued, saying these discussions have been made before by his party “after an electoral defeat”, making reference to the Local Council victory, which PL won by 20,000. He did not make reference to PL’s gap being halved, or the drop from over 40,000 votes to just over 8,000 at the MEP Elections, but he did point out that, “everyone has their own opinion on why it happened”, and even now, his party is still enjoying “an absolute majority”.
“The country is telling us they want renewal and change, not continuity,” Abela warned. “The country wants to look at tomorrow, not rest on yesterday. So now, it’s up to us to reply to that call, and I’m here to answer to that call.”
“Now more than ever, we need to open our doors, we need to understand that there’s no discussion that can’t be had,” the PL leader emphasised. “To all of you who didn’t vote for Labour or never did, we need to ask – what is the most important decision we can take for our children, and our children’s children?”
What do you make of Abela’s speech?
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