Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1165935
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 SEPTEMBER 2019 on board and allowing them total impunity," Casa said. "Helena Dalli can't hope to secure the post of Equality Commissioner if she con- tinues to close an eye to the blatant inequality in how people are treat- ed in Malta. Normal citizens face the law, whilst her colleagues are protected at all costs. "We expect unequivocal con- demnation of this during her Par- liament hearing." A balancing act hard to discard Several members of von der Leyen's team will face a hard time over personal scandals but given the political machinations that went into this complicated geo-political exercise in appease- ment, it is likely that MEPs from the three largest groupings – the Christian democrats, the social- ists and the liberals – will support the new commission while hold- ing their nose. The political balancing act that EU leaders went through to ap- portion the bloc's top posts, in July, and von der Leyen's exercise to balance geographical interests and gender, will not easily be dis- carded by a split parliament. But the ball also rests in the court of the commissioner-desig- nates and how well they respond to the questions MEPs will raise. A bad performance on the day of the grilling could easily turn a sunny day into a thunderstorm, and that is a prospect candidates will want to avoid. Helena Dalli's task-list In her appointment letter to Helena Dalli, European Commission-elect Ursula von der Leyen laid out the tasks expected of the Maltese commissioner-designate. Dalli will have to strengthen Europe's commitment to "inclusion and equality in all of its senses, irrespective of sex, racial or ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief". The job entails that Dalli will have to raise awareness and promote equality across the EU. Dalli has been tasked to: • Lead the fight against discrimination and propose new anti-discrimination legislation • Lead on the EU's implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability • Develop a new European Gender Strategy to address areas in which women still face additional barriers and put forward proposals on pay transparency • Work with the member states to find a way forward on the Women on Boards Directive and ensure the Work–Life Balance Directive is fully implemented • Do more to crack down on gender-based violence and better support victims • Prioritise EU accession to the Istanbul Convention and if it remains blocked in the Council, Dalli should look at strengthening the support, protection and rights of victims. Abortion Malta is the only EU member state without safe and legal access to abor- tion and this will continue to be an is- sue for MEPs. This time around, how- ever, the issue may take on greater significance during the grilling pro- cess, given Dalli's equality portfolio. Her positive track record on pushing forward trail-blazing legislation on equality is not matched by the coun- try's continued resistance to introduce abortion, or, at the very least, reform the draconian law that criminalises women. The Labour government has consist- ently said it has no mandate to discuss abortion and the matter is not on its agenda. To Dalli's advantage, abortion is not an EU competence, although some MEPs from the Greens and S&D are passionate about the subject and will continue to raise the topic. Dalli is likely to be asked where she stands on the matter. Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder The government's resistance to set up a public inquiry into the journal- ist's murder is likely to be a bone of contention for some MEPs. The Council of Europe's parliamen- tary assembly approved a damning re- port earlier this year, which also called for the setting up of a public inquiry to determine whether Caruana Galizia's murder could have been prevented. The three-month deadline set by the Council of Europe expires at the end of the month and this will not go un- noticed. Dalli will possibly be asked for her view on the Maltese govern- ment's decision to stave off the inquiry pending the conclusion of criminal in- vestigations. She may also be asked to justify the Maltese government's repeated at- tempts to clear the makeshift Caruana Galizia memorial at the foot of the Great Siege monument. Panama Papers and the Mizzi- Schembri legacy Joseph Muscat's stubbornness to keep Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schem- bri by his side after the 2016 Panama Papers revelation continues to be a bone of contention. The pair had opened companies in Panama. In later revelations, it transpired that Mizzi and Schembri expected to receive income from a Dubai-based company 17 Black that turned out to be owned by one of the owners of the company that won the gas power station tender. Mizzi and Schembri have always de- nied wrongdoing and Muscat's justifi- cation for keeping the men inside his government has always been tenuous, at the least. Dalli could be asked to justify why she voted in favour of Mizzi when a motion of no confidence was present- ed in Parliament in 2016. She may also have to field questions on the perceived culture of impunity the Muscat government is accused of fostering. The uncomfortable questions Helena Dalli may face Given the portfolio she has been assigned and the high level of competence Dalli has in the field, it is unlikely she will face insurmountable difficulties