Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1158119
NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 21 AUGUST 2019 2 ITALIAN Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has resigned after a hard-hitting speech in which he accused his deputy prime minister of putting personal in- terests before the country's. It will now be up to President Sergio Mattarella to hold consultations with political leaders to explore the possibil- ity of a new government being formed. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvi- ni's Lega Nord is unlikely to be part of a new government coalition. Conte expressed pre-occupation over Salvini's "authoritarian" political culture and"for seeking full powers while incit- ing the crowds". Conte also condemned Salvini for us- ing religious symbols like the rosary for political propaganda purposes. In his reply, Salvini insisted that Italy should go to the polls in autumn lam- basting the prospect of a back room deal between his government coalition part- ner M5S and the centre-left democrats. He also defended his choice of closing Italian ports to rescued migrants, insist- ing he had delivered a more secure Italy. It was Salvini who triggered the crisis 13 days ago by calling for an election in a bid to secure "full powers' for his party. This may prove a gamble for Salvini who may well end in the opposition in a parliament where the M5S hold a ma- jority. Short of calling an election as demand- ed by Salvini, President Mattarella may opt either for a short term institutional government entrusted with approving a budget before taking the country to the polls next year or for a more dura- ble government based on a political pact between the MS5 and the Democrats. The Italian constitution gives the president full powers to find an alterna- tive majority whenever a government resigns. But this may play in the hands of Salvini who is likely to question the democratic legitimacy of a government which includes the centre left. Salvini himself had contested the 2017 election as part of a centre right alliance which he ditched to form a government with the M5S, which emerged as the largest party in parliament. Yet, in subsequent months Salvini consolidated his position, with the Lega becoming the largest party in European elections in May. ANALYSIS PAGES 6 & 7 Italy in new political crisis after Conte's resignation Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (right) with Deputy PM Matteo Salvini (left) CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Camilleri accused the ministry of hav- ing "flagrantly breached" the NBC's au- tonomy which it has enjoyed for the last six years. "The ministry's bureaucrats have no idea how either private industry or the NBC and the book industry functions, and they want to turn the clock back 30 years to turn the NBC into some govern- ment department," Camilleri said. Camilleri has already announced a na- tional congress for writers, during which he will collect stakeholders' proposals for copyright laws as well as for a separate law for the National Book Council, so that it retains "autonomy and permanence". Any bill would still have to be present- ed to the Cabinet of ministers before it is tabled in the House, which is where Camilleri's and Bartolo's alleged disa- greement might have arisen. "It is important that all writers attend the national congress so that they can defend their fundamental and economic rights, and to ensure the NBC can grow as an autonomous entity, Camilleri said in his Facebook message, while firing off more missives at the education ministry. "In such conditions my position would no longer be tenable because the conse- quences of these decisions will impact the NBC's operations, even threaten work and the exports [of the book in- dustry]… I assure our stakeholders that these bureaucrats are being dishonest [and] since the minister has no respect for the NBC and its decisions, he will have to show that respect to the con- gress." The NBC is presenting the Draft Writ- ers' Bill of Economic Rights guarantee- ing the basic and minimum economic rights for writers and authors in Malta, the first step for the transposition of the EU's Copyright in the Digital Market Di- rective. Published authors are invited to vote on adoption of the Bill during the Na- tional Writers' Congress, which will be held on 14 September at the Grand Ho- tel Excelsior, Floriana. Authors are being called upon to rec- ognise their economic rights, including the right to receive fair payment for their work, in a law that will be the first of its kind in Malta. Chairman claims education ministry breached book council's autonomy CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 It is only at this stage, when the applica- tion is validated and published on the PA website, that the public will be in a po- sition to formally object or present sub- missions on the application. Prior to this the public will be consulted on the terms of reference for the prospective Environ- ment Impact Assessment. But MaltaToday has been informed that the area coincides with plans to re- locate fish farms in a larger area, which is further offshore than the temporary site to which fish farms have been relocated over the past two years. The area identified in the latest appli- cation is 4.5km from the Qala coast and from Comino and about 5.4km from Mellieha. In May the PA had issued a permit which allowed operators to double the number of cages while still operating with a 3,300-tonne quota. The temporary relocation of fish farm zones approved in May is located 4.5km from Mellieha, 6km from Comino and 7.6km from Qala, Gozo. This makes the latest application closer to Gozo and Comino but further away from Mellieha. An EIA has already been presented last year by the Department of Fisheries for the creation of an Aquaculture Zone in the north of Malta. Although the extent of the site was not formally defined, the studies suggested a 4.5 sq.kme north of the Sikka l-Bajda ar- ea, which coincides with the area of the latest application. The proposal foresaw that the aquaculture zone would cater for a biomass of approximately 4,500- 5,000 tonnes of fish, up from the 3,300 tonnes permitted in the temporary zone approved in May. But no formal planning application has been presented so far. Birdlife Malta had expressed concern on locating fish farms in a marine pro- tection area which includes important bird colonies. According to sources in both ERA and the PA, the relocation to a larger site would not mean that the whole area will be covered by fish farms but will mean that operators, whose production quotas are set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), will have greater flexibility in their operations and opportunities for growth if their quotas are increased. But critics point out that spreading fish farms over a wider area may increase en- forcement problems. Procedural precedent for major projects The way the Planning Authority is treating this application is indicative of how major projects are being assessed. The public will only learn of pending application for major projects from the Environment and Resources Author- ity's website as soon as the EIA process is commenced, possibly months after the application has been presented. The ERA normally requests the pres- entation of a Project Development State- ment which is published on its website before issuing a call for public consulta- tion on the 'terms of reference' for the EIA. Moreover, people will only be in a posi- tion to formally object to major projects after the EIA is completed and the ap- plication is given final validation by the Planning Authority. This may mean that more than a year could pass between the presentation of an application and the fixing of onsite notices and the commencement of the PA's six-week consultation period. Minister Evarist Bartolo (right) with National Book Council chairman Mark Camilleri PA behaviour indicative of how major projects are assessed