Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1469874
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JUNE 2022 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Right to vote in secrecy for disabled "IN line with the CRPD, the majority of EU countries offer persons with disabilities the possibility of freely choosing assistance to vote. However, in Greece and Malta, only election officials can assist persons with disa- bilities, something that may effectively discourage voters to participate in the elections". This information is quoted from the Executive Summary of the European Disability Forum (EDF)'s European Human Rights Report, Issues 6 – 2022, Human Rights Report on the political participation of Persons with Disabil- ities. The Malta Federation of Organisa- tions Persons with Disability (MFOPD) is the Malta representative on the Eu- ropean Disability Forum (EDF). The UNCRPD is an international human rights treaty which reaffirms that persons with disability should enjoy all human rights and fundamen- tal freedoms. All EU members states and the EU have ratified the UNCRPD, Malta included. Article 29 of the Convention re- quires that all Contracting States protect 'the right of the person with disabilities to vote by secret ballot in elections and public referendums'. Once again, Malta's general elections held earlier this year were not totally accessible to all persons with disability and once again, some of the persons with disability who decided to exercise their right to vote had to do this not in an anonymous voting manner. Persons with disability in Malta should be able to vote in secrecy as is done by the general Maltese population. With the 2024 European Parliament elections approaching, MFOPD joins EDF and urges our national decision makers to acknowledge, consider and implement the following recommen- dations: Guarantee all persons with disability the right to vote and to stand for elec- tion; Maximise accessibility, including to information; Provide reasonable accommodation so that persons with disability can vote independently and secretly. The Malta Federation of Organ- isations Persons with Disability (MFOPD) is the national umbrella or- ganisation for the disability sector. It is the voice of, approximately, 35,000 persons with disability in the Maltese islands. It has 35 enrolled member organisations all working within the disability sector. Marthese Mugliette President, MFOPD Inflation today, sacrifice tomorrow? I am wondering how long it will take for us to realise how expensive food prices are becoming due to the war in Ukraine, before another knock-on effect hits the Maltese restaurant in- dustry. As a regular visitor from my com- fortable Italian perch, always on the lookout for Maltese high-quality res- taurants when I travel here, as well as a friend of some people in the industry, I remember the regular complaints about lack of staffing due to COVID, the problems with salaries, and the restrictions that turned economies of scale on their hand. Today, I find myself regretting an average experience when dining out where I have to pay up over €50 per head for starter-main course, and wine. Pretty much standard, but something is changing: why should I pay this kind of money for service and food that is below par? The war in Ukraine shrunk the global wheat supply and pushed wheat flour prices upward. Add to that mix droughts pushing up beef prices. From farming to manufacturing and trans- porting, everything is becoming more costly. So the need to make a profit means prices have to go up. Malta is replete with eateries of all kinds, and the best performing restaurants are the ones who have the industry coarsing through their blood: they toil under the most trying of circumstances in what is a very difficult industry. Yet at some point, price inflation is going to bite hard and send quite a few restaurants out of business. High quality and cost-efficiency is the key to keep business rolling, but I fear that restaurant patrons are in for another season of tight-beltening. Elizabeth Di Marco, Milan