Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1491702
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 FEBRUARY 2023 The PN's waning influence Editorial AT a recent PN parliamentary group meeting in Pietà, Bernard Grech reportedly found himself fac- ing questions about his "diminished presence as a leader." Significantly, Grech was criticised for "un- der-performing more than usual, particularly when it comes to articulating the PN's vision." Indeed, the same question is on the lips of many: where is the PN's imprint on the national agenda, under Grech's leadership? Irrespective of the statements issued by individ- ual MPs and shadow ministers about various issues that crop up during the political week, it sometimes feels like little appears to embody a known vision of a future Malta, under a new Nationalist admin- istration. The absence of this kind of vision – a vision of what a Nationalist administration truly stands for, in contrast to Labour (beyond merely being 'against Labour', for its own sake) – has now been felt for years; and this clearly accounts for the stasis inside the party, and its dismal polling. Effectively, the message to the PN from voters is clear: they are simply not interested. Labour, on the other hand – despite its chequered history, of late – has managed to offer a dynamic proposition to voters. It safeguarded the welfare state, both in times of economic growth and when the economy was threatened (as in COVID-19); and it keeps rid- ing the wave of change, by responding to real-life problems with legislation (a case in point being the Prudente case, and Labour's upholding of a legal amendment to the abortion ban). The PN might find temporary unity in opposing the amendment out of ideological prejudice; but it is clear that this has failed to make any sort of impact in the polls. Indeed, the voting population shows a greater propensity not to vote, than to choose the PN as an alternative to the tried-and- tested Labour government. Clearly, this is the failing of Bernard Grech. It is no wonder that MPs privately express misgivings about his ability to survive another electoral outing, in the 2024 European elections. Given the current political atmosphere, the Nationalist Opposition should really be poised to capitalise on the people's growing mistrust of Labour, possibly by regaining its lost third seat. And yet, there is still an air of resignation within the PN, surrounding the 2024 MEP elections. And a disastrous show of voting support would leave Grech with no option, but to choose an honourable exit. There will probably be no bloodshed as in the previous Adrian Delia skewering (where dismal polls also motivated a rebellion against Grech's predecessor). But there will be – indeed, there al- ready is – 'nudging and pushing': to the effect that, without any poll increases, there is no future for Bernard Grech as PN leader. Meanwhile in another dimension... In Poland, a disabled 14-year-old raped by her own uncle was refused an abortion by two hospitals in her hometown in eastern Poland, because doctors there cited a 'conscience' clause. The case has sparked outrage in the conservative, Catholic country. Unlike Malta – where abortion is illegal in all cases – Poland allows abortions in very limited instances; namely in cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is threatened. But in a deeply conservative country like Poland, the outrage sparked by this case only further ex-pos- es Malta's international isolation. Significantly, the Nationalist Party's sister party in Poland – Donald Tusk's Civic Platform – is leading the charge for reforming abortion laws. In February 2021, Civic Platform approved a new policy that would not only undo the near-total abor- tion ban introduced by Law and Justice, but also make abortions available for women in cases where they face "an extremely difficult personal situation" and "after consultation with a psychologist and doc- tor". Tusk was even more categorical in July 2022, when he committed his party to introduce a bill legalising abortion in the first 12 weeks [of pregnancy]. Ireland and Malta too share a common history as staunchly Catholic former colonies of Protestant Great Britain: where a ban on abortion stood as a mark of exceptionalism, as the rest of western Eu- rope legalised abortion during the first 12 weeks of any pregnancy. But unlike in Malta, the Irish abortion ban was also entrenched in its Constitution. Just as the An- drea Prudente case triggered the Maltese govern- ment's amendment to allow the termination of a pregnancy when the life of the mother is in danger, it was real-life medical cases that triggered the reforms which watered down and ultimately overturned Ireland's abortion ban. Former Irish PM Leo Varadkar – leader of Fine Gael: also an EPP sister-party to the PN – was the driving force behind the historic Irish referendum to remove the constitutional ban on abortion in 2019, and the subsequent approval of a liberal abortion law. Why, then, does the PN cling to an exceptionalist, almost identitarian and anti-feminist view of sex- ual and reproductive rights (in 2018 it even voted against embryo freezing), when its own modern, centre-right colleagues in the EPP are challenging these notions and showing pragmatism to people's problems and challenges? It is very hard to pigeonhole Malta's ideologically topsy-turvy parties. But in the context of Europe-an elections, as things stand, it seems that Labour will appear more comfortably aligned to its so-socialist mainstream, than the PN is to European centre-right politics. 4 February 2013 Police issue garnishee orders in Enemalta oil scandal investigation ASSETS owned by the companies of several of the persons involved in a police investigation into the procurement of fuel oil by Enemalta have been seized under a garnishee order, MaltaToday is informed. This newspaper understands that the garnish- ee order was served on several company names – some of which have so far not featured in media reports – earlier this afternoon. The asset freeze would mean that bank ac- counts for these companies would be frozen and impossible for withdrawals to be affected. Nobody has been charged with any criminal offence so far since police started investigations into alleged kickbacks paid by commodities firm Trafigura to a Gibraltar-based company whose beneficiary was Frank Sammut, the then chief executive of the Malta Oil Bunkering Corpora- tion at the time, for oil consignments to state utility Enemalta in 2004. Police investigators have so far called in for questioning former investments minister Austin Gatt, who was responsible for Enemalta at the time, as well as former Enemalta chairman Tan- cred Tabone. The Maltese agent for Trafigura, businessman George Farrugia, has reportedly asked for a pres- idential pardon in a bid to turn State's witness to cooperate in the investigation. Frank Sammut was CEO of Enemalta's bun- kering operation MOBC before his role was terminated in 2003, and then reappointed as a consultant to chairman Tancred Tabone be- tween August 2003 and August 2004. Sammut later left MOBC to join the private sector. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi last week was quoted as saying that Sammut's position had been terminated over a conflict of interest, al- though this conflicts with earlier accounts from the finance ministry that Sammut's contract was officially terminated when the MOBC was sold off by Enemalta to the state as part of a recapital- isation process, for which Sammut was eventual- ly paid €95,000 in a golden handshake. The OPM now claims it was aware of the con- flict of interest when it was flagged in parliament by Labour MP Leo Brincat in 2004. ... Quote of the Week "The Prime Minister should retract his comments about the law courts and members of the judiciary and publicly apologise for his bad behaviour and the bad example he has set by making irresponsible and dangerous comments" Shadow justice spokesman Karol Aquilina after Prime Minister Robert Abela recounted what a magistrate told him about leaner sentences meted out by the Appeals Court MaltaToday 10 years ago