Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1118959
OPINION 28 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 MAY 2019 Don't make the mistake of not voting Roselyn Borg Knight Roselyn Borg Knight is a PN candidate for the European elections IT'S an undeniable truth, that with every European Parlia- ment election, less and less voters are turning out to vote. In 1979 there was an average of a 62% turn-out across all of Eu- rope, but fast-forward to 2014, and this percentage went down to 43%. That's an average 20% decrease over all. Although Malta's turn-out is always much higher than the European average, the trend is clearly going the same way. In 1999, Malta had an 82% voter turn-out and by 2014 this went down to just under 75%. After meeting so many peo- ple, one of the main reasons cited by those who decide not to vote is usually that they do not consider the Opposition Party to be a viable alternative government. But this is the beauty of the European Parlia- ment elections – despite what the Government would have us believe, European Parliament elections are not Malta's gen- eral election. In the European Parliament elections we do not choose who is going to govern Malta but only the best six rep- resentatives for the European Parliament. Now, if you believe in the EU in the first place, and if you believe that Malta's place is, in fact, in it then you must also believe the scientific reports and reviews that the EU commissions and publishes on a regular basis. Here are 10 things that the most recent EU reports are say- ing about Malta: 1. Malta is the worst in Europe when it comes to gender equal- ity at the workplace. Whilst we have 85.7% of men who are gainfully employed, only 63.4% of women are. (Annual report on equality between men and women, 7th March 2019) 2. Last year, Malta had the smallest increase in salaries amongst all the EU member states whilst at the same time it had the highest increase in cost of living from 2017 to date. (Eurostat 2019) 3. Malta's minimum wage is way below the European aver- age. The European Union's average is €924 whilst that of Malta is €762. (Eurostat 2019) 4. Malta has consistently failed to reach emission reduc- tion targets every year since 2013. (The Environmental Implementation Review 2019 COUNTRY REPORT MALTA) 5. This is not only bad for our health and our environment, but has already cost the country thousands of Euro. With Malta having the second highest in- crease in CO2 emissions in Eu- rope, last year the government resorted to "flexibility meas- ures" by funding a mysterious green project in Bulgaria to buy off extra emissions-reduction points. (Ivan Martin, Times of Malta, 3rd November 2018) 6. According to real estate research studies, Malta's prop- erty prices went up by 50% in the last two years and, a KMPG report found that the average price of an apartment increased by 24%. 7. We've also experienced exponential increase in popula- tion numbers, creating a huge sustainability and environmen- tal problem. Malta is, in fact, denser than any other country in Europe. According to World Population Review 2019, Malta registers one net migrant every 720 minutes. 8. The European Socialist Par- ty to which our Labour MEPs belong, has promised that after the 25th May elections, it will impose a tax harmonisation system in all the EU member states. 9. This means that a vote for our Labour MEPs will put 25,000 jobs in the finance and gaming sectors at risk. What's worse is that the Labour Party is also telling a lie when it says that Nationalist MEPs voted in favour of this harmonisation. It is a verifiable fact that all Nationalist MEPs always voted against tax harmonisation. 10. And finally, the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (Greco) evaluation that was published last month, states that Malta "clearly lacks an overall strategy and coherent risk-based ap- proach when it comes to integ- rity standards for government officials." It also claims that, "a system of sanctions is also lack- ing." The same report says that the Maltese perceive Malta to be highly corrupt and accord- ing to a Eurobarometer report published in December 2017, 79% of the Maltese see corrup- tion as widespread in Malta. The EU average is 68%. Malta needs a long-term plan where we decide what we want for Malta and Gozo and how to achieve it. We cannot keep planning just for tomorrow or for next week. Whilst the European Parliament elections of the 25th of May are not a general election and will not have any impact on which party governs Malta, they are the per- fect opportunity to send a mes- sage to the current administra- tion, thus giving it the chance to remedy the situation before the next general elections. If the current administration does not receive a loud and clear message that we are unhappy with certain issues, then who is to blame it for going on and riding roughshod over all our concerns? If I'm elected to the EU Parlia- ment I vouch to work with whoever is willing to work with me to see that the interests and the concerns of the Maltese come first, but for this to hap- pen, you need to vote and you need to vote wisely. If you do not believe the sci- entific and indisputable statis- tics listed above, then go ahead and make it. If on the other hand you believe the numbers and want something to be done sooner rather than later, vote for all the Nationalist candi- dates to send a clear message to the local government, so that hopefully our voice is heard. Francis Zammit Dimech Francis Zammit Dimech is a Nationalist MEP and candidate Defending Malta's name and interests ACCORDING to a survey pub- lished by MaltaToday, the most important issue for respondents in the European Parliament election is electing MEPs who will defend Malta's name. With a rating of 26.1% this topped the list for both Labour and Nationalist voters. This survey merits further attention, specifically this issue of our reputation. The Government and the so- cialist party in Malta have been for years campaigning to spread the propaganda that PN MEPs are constantly harming Malta's name. Time and time again we have explained that criticising the Government is the respon- sibility of the Opposition that serves as the Government's public watchdog. This applies to us MEPs too that belong to the Opposition party. After all the European Parliament is also the parliament of all Maltese and Gozitans. However, the Government pursued with its spin. This kind of rhetoric has been disarmed by no other than Frans Tim- mermans, the person who was invited by the Labour Party for a political event on Workers Day. Yes, the same Frans Tim- mermans who is the candidate of the European Socialists for President of the European Com- mission, who is pushing for tax harmonisation across the EU and who is trying to impose abortion on all EU member states through the socialists' manifesto. During a debate on the situa- tion in Hungary, Frans Timmer- mans, the first vice-president of the European Commission re- sponsible for Better Regulation, Inter-institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, said: "And I have to say, to then say that criticising the laws or criticising the government would amount to criticising a nation or a people – frankly speaking Mr Orban – that's the coward's way out." This statement speaks for itself and goes to show that Labour's rhetoric is baseless and that La- bour's attempt to try to equate our duty to criticise to criticism toward our country is dishonest. Another spin that Labour has tried to spread over the past years, including during this cam- paign, was that that we do not work in the interest of Malta. Speaking for myself I cannot un- derstand this rhetoric. My work at the European Parliament was also about defending the interests of Maltese and Gozitan citizens. In less than two years I worked to defend the rights of Maltese workers from being obliged to pay for mandatory training, I supported the estab- lishment of a European Labour Authority to safeguard the inter- ests of Maltese working abroad, successfully campaigned for Maltese YouTubers to get paid like other YouTubers across the EU, ensured better value deals for consumers shopping online and supported SMEs through a new law that ensures fair com- petition, worked in favour of working environments free from cancer causing substances, de- fended the right of citizens to be informed on issues which are of concern to them, strengthened whistleblowers' legislation to support investigative journalism, safeguarded jobs in the pharma- ceutical, financial services and gaming sectors through legal amendments that I pushed for in favour of the people of Malta, defended life and always voted against abortion. I ask, is this working against the interest of Malta, Gozo and its citizens? I am proud of the results I managed to achieve yet there is much more to be done. I renew my commitment to continue working to safeguard our repu- tation and at the same time use my utmost loyalty to the party and the country to build further on this work. My pledge to work on a European masterplan to fight cancer is one matter I will focus on together with tackling digital barriers we still face in our daily lives. This is why I ask you for another mandate whilst promising to keep on working with honesty.