Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1284320
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 2 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS KURT SANSONE BERNARD Grech has flip-flopped on how he will act as prime minister if a ref- erendum delivers a result in favour of le- galising abortion. The Nationalist Party leadership con- tender had told a Xarabank audience last week that if he were prime minister and people chose to legalise abortion in a ref- erendum, he would respect the outcome. His response was different from rival contender Adrian Delia's dogmatic re- sponse that he would still vote against abortion irrespective of a referendum outcome. "If I am prime minister, I think, no I am convinced that I am obliged to follow the decision taken by the Maltese people," Grech replied on Xarabank. He earlier said that if were just an MP and given a free vote on the matter, he would vote according to his conscience. However, a few days later on F Living, Grech insisted that he would resign from prime minister if an abortion referendum passed so as not to be party to legislation passed through parliament. "If I am party leader I will work against the introduction of abortion… and if I am prime minister, I have no problem if a referendum on abortion delivers a Yes result, I am ready to resign so as not to be the one who introduced abortion in the country," Grech replied. His response in the F Living interview just a handful of days after the more nu- anced approach on Xarabank, was a re- turn to the dogmatic approach adopted by Delia. Grech has always been clear that he is personally opposed to abortion. But had surprised many with his moderate reply during a Church radio interview early on in August that he could not ignore a de- bate on the subject if this was happening in society. The Xarabank response was Grech's attempt at distancing himself from what former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi had done in 2011 when he had voted against divorce legislation in parliament despite the people's choice in a referen- dum which he had called. PN sources told MaltaToday that Grech faced internal flak over what was per- ceived as his "soft approach" on abortion by the elderly membership base that will determine the leadership race. "Under pressure, Bernard Grech changed his position on the subject when interviewed on F Living despite having extolled the importance of the referen- dum as a democratic tool on Xarabank a few days earlier," the sources said. Grech's initial replies on the subject were troubling for a largely conservative base and contrasted deeply with Delia's unequivocal stand that he would oppose the introduction of abortion by all means. The PN statute makes it clear that the party is against abortion, which makes the debate a moot point. And yet, it remains a troubling subject for the party and the country at large. Over the past year there has been a push within civil society for the legalisation of abortion with a coalition of women's rights groups and a group of doctors call- ing themselves Doctors for Choice being vocal about the subject. The organisa- tions argue that women should be given the choice to undergo an abortion in what is the first organised public manifestation of pro-choice voices in Malta. However, two MaltaToday surveys car- ried out in 2018 and 2019 found that a vast majority of people are opposed to abortion. A breakdown of the results also showed that opposition to abortion was strong in all circumstances. Just days after Xarabank, Bernard Grech flip-flops on abortion referendum Nationalist Party leadership candidate Bernard Grech (left) went from respecting a referendum result on abortion to resigning, as he adopts Adrian Delia's (right) dogmatic approach following internal flak KURT SANSONE AIR Malta pilots have initiated court proceedings against the government over its failure to fulfil an agreement signed two years ago that provided work safeguards. The judicial proceedings were filed by the Airline Pilots Asso- ciation against the Prime Minis- ter, the Economy Minister and the Tourism Minister. The issue concerns a side agreement signed between AL- PA and then tourism minister Konrad Mizzi on 26 January 2018 that imposed certain obli- gations on the government. ALPA said that through the agreement government had given its members in Air Malta a guarantee that the conditions of employment contained in the collective agreement currently in force would be safeguarded until the signing of a new collec- tive agreement. ALPA said that notwithstand- ing, 69 pilots were made redun- dant in June as a result of collec- tive redundancies declared by the airline. Air Malta had offered pilots and other staff members a social wage f €1,200 per month after the COVID-19 pandemic shut travel and caused major finan- cial problems for ailines. Pilots had refused the airline's offer and management proceed- ed with making 69 pilots redun- dant. ALPA said in its court appli- cation that the government re- fused to honour the contractual rights of those members who were made redundant despite the 2018 agreement. ALPA said that during nego- tiations with Air Malta, mem- bers of the company's senior management team had repeat- edly made it clear that the gov- ernment, as the airline's main shareholder, was only ready to reach an amicable agreement with the association relating to the re-employment of its mem- bers if the union were to re- nounce its rights deriving from the 2018 agreement. "The government, has there- fore, sanctioned the strategic use of negotiation tactics which run counter to core Europe- an and democratic values in an attempt at trampling on con- tractual and employee rights, as well as collective rights deriving from our member's freedom of association," ALPA said. It added it was committed to do its utmost to contribute to the growth of the local aviation sector and expressed regret that government's failure to honour the agreement necessitated di- rect action. Pilots' union takes government to court over failure to honour Air Malta agreement signed by former minister Konrad Mizzi