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MALTATODAY 19 September 2021

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13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 SEPTEMBER 2021 any problematic foreign or in- tra-European agendas, unlike some of the EU's boisterous member states. Silent pact The social democrats have not ruled out retaining Sassoli for the rest of the legislature. Whether or not the rotation deal is respected is a question many journalists have tried ask- ing the Spanish socialist leader of the S&D, Iratxe García, who tried hard to dance around the issue this week. They might be placated by the prospective election of the German SPD to power in Ger- many, placing the centre-left at the heart of European power together with the socialist Josep Borrell – a former president of the EP – as current head of Eu- rope's foreign relations. But S&D president Iratxe Garcia Perez was this week es- pecially pressed by journalists to declare her party's stance on the silent pact. Garcia Perez insisted that the S&D had not yet taken a position on the matter, skirting a clear yes or no on whether the socialists would respect the rotation of the presidency. Garcia Perez said Sassoli had been "an extraordinary" pres- ident for the European Parlia- ment during a difficult year. "We are talking about the fu- ture of an institution, not the person here, and how the so- cialist group can ensure this future. When we will broach this debate, we'll bear all this in mind." But elsewhere, it seemed the mood is for a woman to take charge. The co-president of the Greens, German MEP Ska Keller, said her group support- ed a mid-term election for a president but expressed cau- tion on statements by political groups "which think they own this position" – a dig at the EPP. "There is no group that owns this position, neither at the be- ginning nor at the end of the term. The EP must decide on its own who it wants the presi- dent to be." But Keller also said the Greens wanted any EP president to be a "good president, who can represent the institution, who strengthens internal democra- cy" and commented that it was a "huge pity" that few women have been at the helm of the institution. And the Renew president Da- cian Ciolos also said the liber- als favoured more women to stand for the post: "We would be happy to see women candi- dates as well… We in principle abide by the 2019 agreement, but we expect the same from our partners..." mvella@mediatoday.com.mt For Malta, the opportunity of so much soft power captured by having a Maltese woman as president of the EP, brings a chance of showcasing a reputation for being an honest broker, one already shown during its 2017 presidency of the European Council JAMES DEBONO THE Gozo Bishop's curia is objecting to a zoning appli- cation to remove a schemed road planned in the local plan, which has so far prevented the erection of a block of flats next to St Martha's chapel in Vic- toria, which dates back to the cholera epidemic in the latter half of the 19th century. In a formal objection, the Curia pointed out that the re- tention of this schemed road would ensure protection for the chapel which it said it de- serves "as a result of its isola- tion and insulation from hav- ing developments built right next to it". It warned that the elimi- nation of the road could po- tentially result in a block of apartments and commercial units being built adjacent to the chapel. According to the local plan, land owned by the diocese of Gozo situated on the north and east of the chapel is to be developed into a garden. "Therefore it would not make any sense to allow the possi- bility of massive development on the other side of the chap- el, thus leading to a blank party wall overlooking the chapel," the Curai said. Plans submitted in the appli- cation to remove the schemed road already indicate a height of 12.3m (3 floors) for resi- dential development on the site owned by the applicant just next to the chapel. The schemed road, which would run parallel to simi- lar roads linking Triq Gorg Borg Oliver and Triq Guzep- pi Labre, occupies 341 sq.m in the immediate vicinity of the chapel, and this precludes development on a substantial part of the 1,162sq.m plot owned by the owner. The lo- cal plan allows residential de- velopment on the rest of the plot. St Martha's Chapel was built in Tal-Għonq, Victoria, in 1866 by the merchant Felice Attard and his wife Rosina as an ex-voto for their deliver- ance from cholera. The chapel stands in front of the Tal-Infetti cemetery where people who died from cholera were buried. In 1868, a statue of Our Lady of Grac- es was raised on a plinth to the left of the chapel but this was later moved to the nearby Conservatory of St. Peter and St. Paul. The plinth, with a bas-relief of the souls in pur- gatory, still stands in its orig- inal position. Gozo Curia objects to flats next to Victoria chapel

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