Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1120087
MATTHEW VELLA MALTESE political parties are still dependant on funds from big busi- ness, the Nationalist MP and MEP candidate David Stellini has told MaltaToday in an interview in which he calls out the divisive partisanship of Maltese politics. Stellini, a former spokesperson for the European People's Party who ran for MP in 2017 and was elected in a bye-election, said that unless po- litical parties severe the tether of big business, people's aspirations for a better environment and considerate development cannot be fulfilled. "I wish to see a discussion on state funding of political parties. Our par- ties are sourcing their funds from big businesses. We cannot speak of development and environment if we don't address this," Stellini said. Stellini also called for a system of full-time MPs to stop members of the House having to be employed with government boards – where their al- legiance is owed to ministers and the prime minister rather than constitu- ents – or with the private sector in the form of retainers from big business. WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post WEDNESDAY • 22 MAY 2019 • ISSUE 639 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY EDITORIAL • PAGE 9 Studying, partying and voting at 16 Malta-Gozo helicopter service a step closer to reality European elections: Four questions the polls can't answer EUROPEAN ELECTIONS ANALYSIS PAGE 6 PAGE 3 PAGE 7 'I would never vote against Malta' - Stellini UK lawmakers could get vote on holding second Brexit referendum YANNICK PACE BRITISH MPs will get a vote on whether to hold a second Brexit referendum if they agree to back a withdrawal agree- ment negotiated by the UK government and the European Union. UK Prime Minister Theresa May told MPs on Tuesday that they had "one last chance" to deliver Brexit, as set out in her new Brexit deal. She said the government would also al- low parliament to decide whether to tem- porarily remain in the customs union. In addition to approving the divorce agreement, the bill also includes new guarantees on workers' rights, environ- mental protections and the Irish back- stop. It will also will oblige the government to keep trade in goods with the EU as fric- tionless as possible. May said she remained against a second referendum but appreciated a number of MPs in the House of Commons wanted the nation to decide once again. If the bill is rejected May warned that the UK would be leaving the union with- out a deal. MPs have so far rejected May's with- drawal agreement three times. "One last chance," Theresa May tells MPs PAGE 3 Nationalist MEP candidate David Stellini: 'Unless any EP resolution mentions nine other EU member states for their own shortcomings on banking fraud and crime, I would never vote against Malta' David Stellini