Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1462258
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT ELECTION 2022 €1.00 TUESDAY • 22 MARCH 2022 • ISSUE 783 • ELECTION EDITION PN wants prison voting to be held again after 'tens' of inmates voted illegally KURT SANSONE THE Nationalist Party wants the voting process in prison for the general election to be cancelled and repeated again after ineli- gible prisoners were allowed to vote. In a letter to the Electoral Commission on Monday, PN secretary-general Michael Pic- cinino said the voting process at the Corradino Correctional Facility was "vitiated" by "seri- ous shortcomings". Piccinino said that the Elec- toral Commission's list of 180 prisoners who were eligible to vote on Saturday, included "tens" of inmates who were le- gally disqualified from voting. He accused the commission of failing to take action to stop these people from voting de- spite the PN having flagged at least one ineligible name four days before the voting took place. Piccinino said the PN had also indicated that there could be other ineligible names. Inmates at the CCF voted on Saturday as part of the early voting process. PAGE 5 Abela rakes in thousands but no mention of Russian 'passport' rent Tax returns and House asset declarations do not show any declaration of Robert Abela's rent of Zejtun villa to Russian passport applicants, but is not legally required to declare the rent if he declared the contract with the tax authorities and paid a 15% tax on all the income earned PAGE 4 PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES BIANCHI ABELA INTERVIEWED NICOLE MEILAK LABOUR leader Robert Abela has de- fended a decision to distribute tax cuts and COVID relief cheques just two weeks before the 27 March election, claiming they were necessary to fend off rising prices from supply shortages and the spillover effects of the war in Ukraine. Abela said the €100 and €200 cheques, given to all taxpayers without any means-testing, were a safety net against inflation. The prime minister also insisted his pledge to keep energy prices stable de- spite the international rise in gas pric- es following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was necessary for economic growth. "This isn't the first time that oil prices went up like this. This is just as had happened in March 2020," he said. Abela said his government is using the same economic model as at the start of the pandemic, and a frugal fis- cal policy that had allowed the Labour administration to employ a large war- chest throughout the pandemic. Interviewed by Saviour Balzan on TVM News Plus's Xtra, Abela refused to commit on two Labour proposals for mandatory union membership or the scrapping of homework for school pupils. PAGE 4 PM defends election- eve cash bonanza