NATIONAL SOLIDARITY

a. We shall continue to use consensus and dialogue as our primary instrument for achieving our central objectives of stability, economic progress and solidarity,

b. It is our policy that Gozitan affairs should continue to be administered and effectively controlled on the spot by way of a Ministry for Gozo located in Gozo.

c. We intend to further facilitate education development at higher levels in Gozo, we shall further promote ho using development there and village oriented lines, and we shall provide better accommodation for Gozitan students who need to come to Malta for study purposes.

d. We shall see that the Gozo Channel Company is enabled to equip itself with more modern vessels specially built to cater for Its own particular need.

e. Additional measures are envisaged to further strengthen the links which bind emigrants to their native land and reduce the wrench of separation in all possible ways.

f. Our tourism development strategy will continue to emphasise the pursuit of quality, as opposed to quantity, and the promotion of Malta as winter tourism destination; and with this aim in view we shall be particularly going for the conference type tourism, and for tourism with a cultural bias. It is our intention, moreover, to step up training programs which relate to the servicing of tourism related activities.

g. It is our intention to ensure that the benefits which flow from tourism are evenly spread and reach out to the southern as welt as the northern parts of our islands.

a. We consider the family unit to be the cradle and the basis of all forms of solidarity, and we undertake, therefore, to protect its integrity and shelter it from all harmful influences.

b. The needs of family are paramount, and educational as well as work-related legislation will continue to be reviewed with that consideration in mind.

c. We are committed to enact the family law which will bring together all aspects of law bearing on family matters; and an integral feature of this review of family law would be the setting up of a family court which will take up all family-related issues.

d. The younger elements need to be more closely involved in the shaping of the future. We shall continue to promote their interests by improving their employment prospects; we shall give them greater scope to express themselves in the artistic sphere; we shall actively encourage and materially assist economic projects undertaken by them; and we shall also develop student exchange programmes on an increasing scale.

e. One further measure will be the setting up of an institute at the university for the study of the particular needs and problems of vouths.

f. In regard to the elderly we shall continue to pursue and extend concepts already introduced, such as the provision of personalised services, assistance to enable those who can do something to remain in their home environments, and the further improvements of geriatrics and services in our hospitals. We shall also focus on the removal of such anomalities as yet remain in the working of our somewhat complicated pensions legislation.

SOLIDARITY BUILT ON SOCIAL VALUES

a. Now that we have definitively settled relations between State and Church on the property issue, and in regard to the financing of Church schools, It will be our object to cultivate further, and reap the fruits, of the good relations which now exist between the two sides.

b. The Nationalist Party's beliefs are rooted in Roman Catholic faith, and we take our lead in social thinking from the perimeter laid down by the Church. It will be our constant endeavour to ensure that a sense of responsibility, tolerance, and duty will continue to prevail in our pursuit of efficiency and public good.

c. In order to give practical application to the concept of subsidiary we propose, in the matters which involve social values-oriented programmes of action, to provide greater scope for participation by voluntary organisations and suitably motivated youth groups.

d. We are determined to raise standards of administrative efficiency In the Courts of Law by providing trained personnel and adequate resources, so that justice can be administered as speedily as possible.

e. Our intention is to improve the workings of Parliament, and we propose to seek the collaboration of other political parties in order to make the conduct of parliamentary business more efficient.

a. Over the past five years the Cabinet fulfilled its responsibilities by engaging in continuous consultative dialogue. In the coming five years Cabinet will conduct its business with even greater efficiency and coordination.

b. The reforms of the civil service will continue, and will entail the re-ordering of structures as well as the modernising of systems. The object is to ensure that things are done with greater speed and efficiency so that you - the citizen - can get better value from the system and better service.

c. With respect of the rule of law now restored, it is our intention to enhance the ability of the citizen to effectively protect his rights.

d. Laws will be enacted to protect private property and private rights. A government office will be set up no help the citizen in his confrontations with bureaucracy and the individual will be able to appeal against administrative decisions in respect of which he may feel aggrieved.

e. A local government system will be implemented on the basis of the recently publicised scheme, This will enable purely local problems to be seen to at local level by residents of the respective localities.

d. The police force will continue to be strengthened and its resources enhanced. General standards in the force will be improved by way of training courses in the academy and through an induction process which takes young recruits in for a six month trial period on an apprenticeship basis. The raising of efficiency levels in the police force will be a continuing process.

e. Our Armed Forces have reestablished their identity, self-respect and self-confidence. In the coming five years the rehabilitation process will continue, and the Armed Forces will be further adapted to the particular specialised roles envisaged for them.

SOLIDARITY BY WAY OF EDUCATION

a. We believe that a good education is the best possible way of achieving an improvement in the quality of life. We consider that a good moral foundation is essential at all levels of education; and we further consider that more emphasis should he laid on work-related ethics, as well as on a cultural formation of the student on as wide a basis as possible. Above all there is need to appreciate that education and training is a continuing process throughout one's working life.

b. There is need for more specialised schooling. There is scope for increasing the responsibilities of school councils, and there is also scope for greater coordination and collaboration between state schools and other schools.

c. The Nationalist government has honoured its commitments to the teaching profession. The next step now is to raise teacher training to professional standards so that our country can have best possible teaching qualities at all levels.

d. Standards of teaching in government schools must continue to improve especially in the disciplines of science, computer technology and trade skills, where a new approach is needed and greater priority shall be given. The teaching of Maltese history has also to be given greater importance.

e. The university has taken giant strides forward these past few years. and the student population has risen to 3,700. There now has to be a greater emphasis on specialisation, and a closer relationship between the university and other national institutions.

f. Over tine nest five years we shall continue in practical ways to promote awareness of the need to see education as a life-long process.

a. Solidarity as we see it means that in Maltese society there should be a place for everybody so that all can progress, each according to one's potential.

b. In the area of social services a Nationalist government will continue to focus on personalisation in its programmes of assistance, and will remove bureaucratic rigidities which inhibit this objective.

c. Health services will continue to be improved. All departmental services at St. Luke's Hospital will be progressively modernised and facilities for specialisation will be enhanced. A new hospital will be built close to the university, professional and paramedical training is being stepped up, and particular stress will be laid on the preventive aspects of health care. Steps are being taken in the department of mental health to introduce new programmes of treatment and rehabilitation.

d. A project is being launched to tighten up preventive measures in the area of occupational safety.

e. Conditions of work will continue to be improved, especially where part-timers are concerned, and we will take steps to implement undertakings regarding workers' participation where this is appropriate.

f. It will be a Nationalist Party's concern to ensure that existing harmony with our social partners in respect of an incomes policy and in regard to the management of the Retail Price Index system is maintained and extended to other areas of collaboration.

g. The past five years have clearly demonstrated the Nationalist Party's commitments to fight the drug problem. The next step will be to review the relevant legislation to give the police authorities increased powers in tracking down drug pushers. In the meantime the problems of rehabilitation will continue to be addressed.

h. Solidarity vis-a-vis the handicapped will be shown by further re-enforcing their rights and also by giving them increased opportunities, so as to reduce disparities between them and other members of the community.

a. In the coming five years we shall be striving to add materially to the 10.000 jobs already crested since 1987, while also making it an object of policy to raise lob quality. We shall continue to promote and assist investment initiatives and will step up our job related training programmes.

b. In regard to incomes, we must build on the agreed policy framework already established and functioning so that its advantages can be fully exploited; and it will continue to be our policy to encourage enterprises, in a position to do so, to pay wage rates above minimum wage.

c. We shall embark on the process of the system tax collection, and we shall tighten up existent loopholes which allow for tax evasion.

d. We shall encourage and assist farmers and fishermen to fully exploit the geographical advantages of Malta's circumstances in order to extend its new market outlets; and in regard to cattle breeding the emphasis will again be on modernising farm premises, so as to bring local practices in line with standards

e. Measures to increase the competitive quality of Malta's industrial sector will continue, and the Nationalist government undertakes to help those who are prepared to take up the challenge and give themselves a chance. The restructuring of industry will lead logically to the scaling down and eventually the phasing out of supportive levies.

f. We believe that trade has to be viewed in an international context; therefore our policy is one for selective protection in a free market environment.

g. The banking system will continue to improve the quality of its services; the process of liberalisation will be taken further in both banking and insurance, subject to limits imposed by consideration of public interest.

h. The Stock Exchange, development of offshore business, and commercial exploitation of the Free Trade Area facilities - all these initiatives have proved themselves and will continue to be actively pursued.

a. We want to ensure that work is efficient and productive. However, we must also see that free time is made good use of and that it provides opportunities for fulfilment.

b. Cultural events will be actively encouraged, and it will be the government's policy to cultivate interests in such activities on as widespread a basis as possible.

c. Voluntary community services will also be encouraged, and we would like to see these develop in the manner which complements services provided either by the state or professionally against payment.

d. Premises and other property of cultural value requiring restoration and maintenance will he seen to as a matter of national priority and measures for them to be better appreciated and evaluated by the public at large will he taken.

e. The draft law on consumer protection will be enacted. In addition, measures will be introduced to provide the necessary basis for anti-trust, anti-dumping and quality control legislation.

f. Public libraries, archives and centres of information will he strongly supported in the context of an overall coordinated development plan.

g. Sporting activities will be further supported financially and new concepts of financial aid will be introduced, on a national basis, in respect of sports generally.

a. The draft law regarding protection of the environment, which gives the right to every citizen to appeal against decisions taken by a minister or public authority, will be enacted.

b. On the basis of the structure plan and other measures in contemplation, including the powers proposed to be vested in a revitalised Department of Lands, the government will commit itself to see that the best possible use is made of our limited land resources, in the light of the total demand made, and constraints imposed by the overall requirements of national development.

c. The department of works will be reorganised so as to improve its efficiency, and in order to enable It to cope more adequately with the needs of the time.

d. Road development will be given priority, and now that a master plan for road redevelopment has been completed the planning authority is in a position to ensure that road networks are more coherently designed in future.

e. The public transport system will be given a complete facelift, with financial assistance being provided to the owners of the vehicles affected.

f. The second phase of the developing of the new power station at Delimara will be undertaken.

g. The new Water Corporation will ensure that water supply and water quality is improved, especially in the southern part of Malta.

h. The conversion from an antiquated telephone system to a completely digitised one has been completed. The benefits of this renovation will he experienced in the coming years, henceforth a new system demand should he promptly met.

i. Since 1987 a large number of new houses have been built. The emphasis in the coming years will be on an improvement of house quality so as to raise living standards generally.

Programmes of rehabilitation of old premises will be undertaken, especially in the Cottonera area.

a. In the "first phase" we submitted Malta's application for membership of the European Community. In the "second phase" we shall continue to adapt and condition the country to the challenges of this sep [sic]. We are confident that we should be among the first of the member countries to be admitted.

b. Malta's commitment to the Common Heritage of Mankind is now recognised by all. In the coming years we shall continue to be actively engaged in achieving this objective.

c. Malta's geographical position shall continue to give us the opportunity to serve as a bridge of friendship so that the Mediterranean area can have its own system of security and cooperation with the CSCE.

d. In the "second phase" Malta's participation in the international institutional sphere will be intensified and strengthened.