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MALTATODAY 26 March 2023

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4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 MARCH 2023 NEWS Investing in funds can provide several benefits We offer over 9,000 Global Funds Benefit from 50% discount on initial fees Diversification Professional management Variety of asset classes Offer valid until 30 th April 2023, terms apply. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd (CCIS) is licensed to conduct investment services business under the Investments Services Act (CAP370) by the MFSA. The value of investments, and the income therefrom, may go down as well as up and past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance, nor a reliable guide to future performance. Investments in financial instruments carry the risk that the investor may lose some or all of the capital invested. Currency fluctuations may affect the value of investments and any income derived. POSTS FOR LEGAL PROCURATOR WITH THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Jobsplus Vacancy No. 390898, Permit Nos. 620/2022) The Office of the Attorney General Agency is inviting applications for Legal Procurators. The selected candidates will be employed on a full-time indefinite term basis, subject to a probation period, and will be required to work for a minimum of forty hours per week. Applicants must be in possession of a warrant to practice the profession of Legal Procurator. ___________________________________________________________________________ Applications must quote relevant Jobsplus Vacancy Reference, include a detailed CV, and should be addressed to: The Administration Office of the Attorney General, No. 53, Admiralty House, South Street, Valletta VLT 1101 or emailed to ag@attorneygeneral.mt and should be submitted by not later than Thursday 6 th April 2023. POSTIJIET TA' PROKURATURI LEGALI FL-UFFIĊĊJU TAL-AVUKAT ĠENERALI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The company is proposing a €120 million investment in a new Comino hotel and villas on the island between Malta and Gozo. The original hotel and bunga- lows were built in the 1960s and are today in a derelict state. Comino is a Natura 2000 site and earlier this month activists protested outside the company's headquarters against the devel- opment. The Planning Author- ity has received almost 14,000 objections. Gzira fuel station controversy: 'I admire Conrad Borg Manché' In the interview, Abela also reached out to Gżira Mayor Conrad Borg Manché over the ongoing controversy involving the relocation of a fuel station to a nearby garden. The Labour mayor is opposing the relocation to a section of the Council of Europe Garden, even criticising his own party for be- ing complacent on the matter. He even told MaltaToday earlier this month that he could con- sider an independent bid for the local elections next year. The station has to be moved from its current location be- cause of plans to widen the road that date back more than two decades. Abela said he has sent a mes- sage to the authorities to ex- plore an alternative solution but remained non-committal on whether the station will be relo- cated elsewhere. He said prelim- inary talks had started. "I understand the priorities and concerns of Conrad Borg Manché, who is sending a strong message and believes in his cause and I admire him for that, but there are also the rights of the fuel station owners, and I believe we can sit down around the table and with good will and common sense bring together the con- flicting interests," Abela said. Steward's €100m agreement: 'I only saw it after it was signed' Asked about the Steward Health Care hospitals conces- sion and the infamous August 2019 side agreement that obliged government to pay the company €100 million if the contract was terminated by the courts, Abela insisted he only saw the agree- ment after it was signed. Pressed to say whether the side agreement signed by then min- ister Konrad Mizzi was the one discussed at Cabinet level, the Prime Minister implied it was not. "I reiterate that I only saw that contract for the first time after it was signed… My reply is clear enough," he insisted. Abela defended his govern- ment's tough action now to take back Gozo General, Karin Grech and St Luke's hospitals, insisting this was the right time to do it after the court's ruling. Abortion amendment: 'I've understood the importance of consultation' The Prime Minister admit- ted that his government should have carried out public consul- tation before proposing the legal amendments to allow an abor- tion if a woman's life or health is in danger. "If you were to ask me what I would have done differently is that the amendment, which was motivated by good intentions, should have been issued for pub- lic consultation. From this legis- lature, I've understood the im- portance of public consultation before taking major decisions," he said. Abela reiterated the govern- ment's commitment to change the law but said the present hia- tus in the process was a result of consultations with stakeholders in the medical field. He said the talks have resulted in conver- gence on key principles. "Every- one agrees that the mother's life should not be put in danger; there is agreement that where a foetus can be born it should be birthed; there is also agreement that the mother's health should be protected." He said the discussion on le- galisation of abortion, which he insisted had nothing to do with the proposed amendment, was alive and kicking in society and the Labour Party will be a part of the discussion. Roberta Metsola: 'Choice would fall on person who enjoys Mal- tese government's trust' The Prime Minister was non-committal whether he would nominate Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola for Eu- ropean Commission president if she is the European People's Party's choice for the post. In Brussels' corridors, Met- sola has been name-dropped as the EPP's possible choice for spitzenkandidat, which would put her in the running to take over from Ursula von der Leyen in 2024 if the EPP emerges as the largest party in the parliament. However, any such eventual- ity will depend also on Abela's decision since it is the heads of government in the Council that choose the commission presi- dent. "In 2019, and on the basis of the EU Treaties, the choice of Ursula von der Leyen was made by the heads of government [ignoring the Spitzenkandidat model]… if in a hypothetical scenario one had to arrive at that eventual- ity, the Maltese government's choice would fall upon someone who enjoys the trust of the Mal- tese government," Abela replied cryptically. He said that the PL's focus in next year's EP election will be on solutions for the challenges peo- ple face in their daily lives, such as inflation. FULL INTERVIEW MT2 Abortion: 'I understood the importance of consultation' Prime Minister Robert Abela was non-committal on whether he would nominate Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola (pictured) for European Commission president

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