Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1522769
6 maltatoday | THURSDAY • 19 JUNE 2024 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS magius@mediatoday.com.mt MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Man admits to damaging 17 cars in drunken rampage FORMER PL MP Gino Cauchi has urged people to refrain from "politicising" the issue of for- eigners in Malta. Cauchi was speaking during TVM's Xtra, where he noted that the issue was a concern for protest voters. "We cannot introduce politics into such a sensitive topic," Cauchi said. Despite this, Xtra's host, Sav- iour Balzan retorted saying that one should discuss "every sub- ject under the sun," to which Cauchi responded by agreeing with him. The panel discussed the MEP and local council elections' results. Present in the studio alongside Cauchi was the PL's new Valletta mayor, Olaf McK- ay, Net News head of news Robert Cremona, and the PN's Siġġiewi mayor, Julian Borg. As they dove into the last elections' results, the PN's sur- prising performance was not lost on Julian Borg, who admit- ted that while the party expect- ed a reduction in vote gaps, it did not expect to see those numbers. Borg said that the PN has achieved its targets in the pre- vious election, but it still has a way to go. Cremona agreed with Borg, as he further commented on the two parties' campaigns. He argued that certain tit for tats between the two parties turned voters off, which likely prompted them to vote for in- dependent candidates. When asked to share his thoughts on the elections' out- come, Cauchi said that the out- come showed "the electorate's maturity," as he noted that the voters' message to the political class was that times are changing. Meanwhile, Valletta's new PL mayor, Olaf McKay spent the majority of the programme in- sisting that both his party and its leader have what it takes to truly act on the electorate's message. Among other issues, McKay mentioned the environment, as well as the tables and chairs issue and the problem of loud music in certain localities, most notably his own. McK- ay was asked whether he was ready to go against decisions taken by the central govern- ment, to which he responded, "obviously." Turning back to the election result, Cauchi said that the PN's gain in votes could be at- tributed to two different fac- tors. He stated that this time around, the PN managed to convince its voters who chose not to vote in 2019 due to in- ternal turmoil within the par- ty. Secondly, the ex-PL MP claimed that the "Metsola fac- tor" was a big contributor to the PN's more positive result. Net TV's Robert Cremona agreed with him, adding that Metsola, as well as Joseph Mus- cat were two characters which undoubtedly affected the elec- tion. Cremona however did not agree with Cauchi's assessment that "the PN equals Roberta Metsola." Towards the end of the pro- gramme, Borg was asked to identify one problem which needs to be addressed with regards to local councils, to which he immediately replied that he wants to see more pow- er given to local governments. Ex-PL MP Gino Cauchi says foreigners in Malta issue should not be 'politicised' On Monday, TVM's Xtra discussed the MEP and local council elections' results. Present in the studio alongside Gino Cauchi was the PL's new Valletta mayor, Olaf McKay, Net News head of news Robert Cremona, and the PN's Siġġiewi mayor, Julian Borg Gino Cauchi A man has admitted in court to having damaged 17 parked cars in Swieqi on Sunday night while drunk. Online betting customer service agent Johannes Trosborg, 27, from Denmark was arraigned under arrest before mag- istrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo on Tuesday. Police Inspectors Michael Vella and Roderick Attard charged the man with having wilfully caused damage to pri- vate property, as well as with disobey- ing police officers' lawful orders, being drunk and incapable of taking care of himself in a public place and wilfully disturbing public order. Trosborg's legal aid counsel, lawyer Ingrid Zammit Young informed the court that the defendant was pleading guilty to the charges. In his submissions on punishment, Inspector Attard said the man had co- operated fully with the police. He sug- gested a suspended sentence, in the cir- cumstances. Zammit Young told the court that her client was very sorry about what he had done whilst drunk and was willing to pay for all the repairs resulting from the damage he had caused. After Trosborg confirmed his guilty plea, the court sentenced him to im- prisonment for 18 months, which were suspended for four years together with a €150 fine.