Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1414163
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 SEPTEMBER 2021 NEWS Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations (Ex-Media Centre), Sajjan Lane, National Road, Hamrun The Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations would like to inform the general public that vacancies for the following job positions have arisen within its Office: SENIOR MANAGER (ANNUAL RETURNS AND ANNUAL ACCOUNTS) Jobsplus permit number 382/2021 ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER (ICT) Jobsplus permit number 392/2021 Interested applicants are requested to submit their C.V. showing qualifications and experience, by not later than 10 TH October 2021 via email on recruitment.cvo@gov.mt Further information on these vacancies, can be viewed on this Office's website: www.voluntaryorganisations.gov.mt JOB VACANCIES Workable majority Europe Elects Forsa Traffic-light coalition (SPD, Greens, Lib) 428 437 Red Red Green (SPD, Greens, Left) 388 395 Jamaica Coalition (CDU/CSU, Greens, Lib) 388 416 Grand Coalition (SPD, CDU/CSU) 380 391 Majority 370 382** Not enough seats SPD-Greens 337 346 Kiwi Coalition (CDU/CSU, Greens) 297 325 CDU-Liberals 261 276 *Based on Europe Elects seat projection for Euractiv and Forsa poll (22 -23 September) **Germany does not have a fixed number of seats as number depends of apportioning of seats after votes are counted seen by voters as a continua- tion of Merkel's centrist appeal, with his rise more to do with ri- val Laschet's lack of charisma. Much also depends on the choice of coalition partners. Next week Labour in Malta welcomes socialist MEPs, cele- brating an SPD victory as a sign of its rapprochement with the European socialist family fol- lowing Muscat's drift from in- ternational socialism. Abela even made it a point to affirm his "democratic so- cialist" credentials in his Inde- pendence Day speech. Yet even here Labour's present attach- ment to social democracy may be skin deep, especially on tax- ation. A Red-Green coalition in Germany is more likely to push for global tax rates which may have a marked impact on Mal- ta. The Greens will be kingmakers The Greens have missed the bus for the chancellorship but they will probably emerge from the election as kingmakers, a big feat for a party born from the left-wing extra-parliamen- tary movements of the 1970s. Over the years the Greens have lost their radical edge and now comfortably govern Baden-Württemberg, one of Germany's richest regions, with the CDU. But the Greens are also in coalition with the left and the SPD in Berlin. Still, they struggle to appeal to working-class voters and are more in synch with the concerns of the educated new middle class, who unlike more affluent FDP voters have more cultural than financial capital. Their upward trajectory con- trasts with that of the Maltese Greens, possibly because Ger- many has a larger constituency of left-leaning tertiary-educat- ed voters, a category which in Malta still tilts towards the PN. While Labour may bet on a stronger relationship with the SPD, the participation of the Greens, whose exponents in the European Parliament pushed for a harder line on Malta on both taxation and rule of law issues, in the next German gov- ernment could also translate in greater pressure on Malta. Merkel will be missed In the post-Brexit/Trump world, Angela Merkel rose to international prominence as a sane voice in an increasingly unstable world, even earning the title of leader of the free world. Her decision to accept a mil- lion Syrian refugees defied right-wing prejudice and even- tually paid off, to the extent that the far right AFD is not ex- pected to make any significant gains in the election. And by governing with the social democrats and opening up to the Greens she reassured middle-of-the-road voters. Yet her international legacy also includes the imposition of austerity, which robbed the future of an entire generation of Italian, Spanish and Greek youths, and a reluctance to ad- dress the structural imbalanc- es in the EU. Ironically Malta, which as a small island-state found ways to achieve a fiscal surplus by resorting to unor- thodox 'Muscatonomics', was a firm supporter of the German hard-line approach towards Greece. In the end it was the country that got grey-listed by the FATF in a decision backed by the US, the UK and Germa- ny. It remains to be seen whether a change in government in Ger- many would give more leeway to public spending, aimed at restoring growth and social co- hesion in a post-COVID world. Chairwoman of Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen Annalena Baerbock, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Armin Laschet and German Finance Minister and Social Democratic Party candidate Olaf Scholz are pictured before a televised debate of the candidates to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor