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2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 AUGUST 2020 A prime minister under fire Editorial ON Friday, Prime Minister Robert Abela and Health Minister Chris Fearne unveiled a new set of emer- gency COVID-19 regulations, agreed at Thursday's MCESD meeting. These include new limitations on the number of at- tendees at public events; a €50 fine for not wearing masks in public transport, stores, the airport and the Gozo ferry; and new restrictions on visitors at Mater Dei Hospital and elderly homes. While not amounting to a renewed state of public health emergency, or a return to the partial lockdown we experienced in March-June, these measures none- theless attest to the severity of the second outbreak of COVID-19, following the easing of earlier restrictions on 30 June. Malta has, in fact, just gone through the worst week since the beginning of the pandemic: with 49 new cas- es announced on Friday, prompting the return of Pub- lic Health Superintendent Charmaine Grech to once again address weekly bulletins. This is the highest incidence of COVID-19 since the beginning of April: with many of the cases linked to mass events, parties or socializing in crowded areas. It is therefore no surprise that Robert Abela now finds himself under fire: facing criticism from all sides for what many consider to be his mishandling of the post-emergency scenario. At the conference itself, Abela had to fend off ac- cusations that the decision to allow mass events had been taken 'to favour a particular business sector'; and he also had to defend his earlier, somewhat cavalier attitude towards the threat of a second wave… a possi- bility he had famously dismissed as 'scaremongering'. Above all, however, Abela appeared rattled by the emergence of striking evidence – in the form of a mas- sive spike in cases, attributable in part to sheer speed and extent to which Malta re-opened 'for business' – which proves that his so-called "sustainable" strategy, to balance out the needs of the economy and health, has clearly backfired. For all this, the prime minister insisted that his gov- ernment had not baulked at taking difficult decisions: citing the cancellation of four mass events which were to be held later this summer. "Those events would have netted government €25 million, which would have been spent on health ser- vices, but we took the difficult decision of cancelling them," he said. What he omitted to mention, however, was that his government had been arm-wrestled into taking that decision, by a threat of industrial action by virtually all Malta's medical departments. Abela also argued: "The scenario we are living in is continuously changing. We are basing our decisions on evidence, and this is a developing situation." But while there is some truth to that – the situation certainly is fluid, and no government can be expected to fully avoid a second outbreak – it remains question- able whether all Abela's recent decisions were indeed based on 'evidence'. Health professionals' advice has been consistent from the start: Malta should not have flirted with large public festival and gatherings – no matter how lucra- tive. And while the re-opening the airport and har- bours was both inevitable and justified, the decision to allow incoming visitors from all destinations – in- cluding those worst-hit by the pandemic – was clearly a case of 'opening up too much, too fast'. Moreover, the Malta Association of Public Health Medicine has been categorical about what we are wit- nessing: "These numbers are a direct consequence of irresponsible political behaviour, disregard of scientif- ic evidence, and conflicting messages pushed by prom- inent personalities which led to inadequate physical distancing, infrequent and incorrect use of masks and disregard of public health recommendations." Unfortunately, the consequences now look set to af- fect both public health and the economy: Malta has already been blacklisted by the Baltic countries and Ireland; meanwhile, the US Centre for Disease Con- trol (CDC) issued a travel warning advising against non-essential travel to Malta. And a new headache may be brewing for Abela: in the form of a sizeable group of anxious parents who fear that schools will be closed yet again due to the spike in infections. If that happens, Abela risks having a revolution on his hands. The closure of schools in March 2020 was bearable for most; but the results of online classes have shown the clear differences that the digital divide brings, and that children who need face-to-face con- tact cannot thrive in certain 'home-schooled' settings. A second closure in September will also force par- ents to stay home: thereby punishing small businesses, low and middle-income families, and drive down con- sumption. It remains to be seen whether the new measures announced on Friday will suffice to avert that cata- strophic scenario. If not, the Prime Minister may find himself in signif- icantly hotter water… even in the apparent absence of any Opposition. 8 August 2010 Labour MP proposes mechanism for prompt change of illegal laws LABOUR MP Owen Bonnici is proposing that the appointment of retired judges on Parlia- ment's Bills Committee will ensure that it is in position to immediately propose legislation to the Plenary once a court declares a part of a law to be unconstitutional, as it happens in April 2009 when the constitutional court de- creed that Malta's adoption law violated hu- man rights. Owen Bonnici's proposal comes in the wake of a judicial protest presented by Marco and Joanne Cremona, after they were not allowed to carry on with their adoption process because they had not been married for three years, as required by a law which has been deemed in breach of the Constitution. A spokesperson for Family Minister Dolores Christina has confirmed with this newspaper that a first reading of a law amending the cur- rent one has been presented to parliament. However, the law has not been approved be- fore the summer recess. But despite the minister's decision to table the bill, the same law – which is being changed – was invoked to stop Joanne and Marco Cre- mona, who have been married for only two years, from continuing their adoption process just a few weeks ago. "It is inconceivable that a law already declared to violate human rights is invoked by a government agency as if nothing has happened and we continue to suffer simply because the authorities are taking a long time to change a law to make it conform to a sen- tence issued by the constitutional court," the couple argued in their judicial protest. The is- sue of laws violating the constitution was origi- nally asked by Owen Bonnici in a parliamenta- ry question addressed to former Speaker Louis Galea last January. Galea replied that as things stand whenever the speaker is notified by the law courts that a law violates the Constitution he is only obliged to table the court judgements in the first sitting after receiving the information and it is up to the government to amend the laws. In past decade, the Speaker presented 29 judgements which deemed Maltese laws which violate the constitution. ... Quote of the Week "I am not concerned about due diligence... I have nothing to hide." Opposition leader and PN leader Adrian Delia on facing the scrutiny of the PN's vetting committee for the upcoming leadership race MaltaToday 10 years ago