Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1524716
7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 31 JULY 2024 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt MATTHEW VELLA mvella@mediatoday.com.mt An absolute majority of Mal- tese businesses believe that funding political parties in ex- change for public contracts or influence over policy making is widespread in their country. This emerges from a Euroba- rometer survey based on inter- views with 252 companies in Malta carried out in April. The results show that 52% of busi- nesses believe party donations are a means to acquire public contracts. Maltese companies rank in third place behind those in Ro- mania (55%) and those in Slo- vakia (54%) to believe that this practice is widespread in their country. The EU average stands at 36%. The practice also emerges as the highest-ranking cor- rupt practice in Malta, and is deemed to be more prevalent than offering a free gift or trip in exchange for a service (20%) and favouring friends or family members in business (46%) or public institutions (46%). Moreover, while in the EU, 29% believe that bribery through gifts is widespread, in Malta the percentage of respondents who believe so drops to 20%. 72% of the Maltese companies interviewed also believe that links that are too close between business and politics in their country leads to corruption. But Maltese businesses were less likely to express this judge- ment than their counterparts in Greece (93%), Bulgaria (92%), Cyprus (91%) and Spain (90%). And only 30% of Maltese com- panies agree that the only way to succeed in business is to have political connections compared to 40% in the EU. Only 36% of Maltese respond- ents, compared to 51% in the EU, believe businesses engag- ing in corrupt practices will be caught by or reported to the po- lice or prosecutors. Moreover, only 35% of Maltese business owners believe that people engaged in corruption will be heavily fined or impris- oned by a court. But compared to 2023, the pro- portion of Maltese companies thinking it is likely that individ- uals and businesses engaging in corrupt practices will be heavily fined or imprisoned by a court has increased by 12 points from just 23% in 2023 to 35% now. Moreover, Maltese respond- ents are now more likely than in 2023 to agree that, in their country, people and businesses caught for petty corruption are appropriately punished (+15 pp, to 56%). When asked whether in the last three years, corruption has prevented their company from winning a public tender or a public procurement contract, 26% of Maltese companies re- plied that this was the case. But only 2% replied that they have been asked to give a gift, favour or extra money for a permit or services. Companies in this survey were asked about the minimum value at which they would consider a gift or service received by a pub- lic official in return for a favour to be a bribe. Only 20% of Maltese business- es believe that any gift, even one with no monetary value, is a bribe while 36% believe that any monetary gift, even if less than €50 is a bribe. Additionally, 35% believe that any gift over €100 is a bribe. Party funding to get contracts widespread in Malta Ambassador reacts to Archbishop's outrage on Paris Olympics, 'Judge not according to the appearance' Survey among Maltese businesses confirms widespread perception that political donations are used as leverage in the award of contracts MALTA'S archbishop Charles Sci- cluna was issued with a polite rebuff from France's ambassador after the senior cleric demanded an apology over the alleged representation of the Last Supper during the Olym- pics' opening ceremony. Scicluna took offence, claiming a scene of the Italian artist Leon- ardo Da Vinci's 'Last Supper' had been used during a part of the Paris Olympics' opening ceremony, join- ing the outrage from the Catholic Church and conservative politi- cians who deemed the recreation of the biblical scene as offensive. The scene was performed by drag queens, a transgender model and a naked singer made up as the Greek god of wine Dionysus. But instead of an apology, Sci- cluna was quoted the good book by ambassador Agnès Von Der Mühll, who insisted that the cer- emony's artist director had de- clared the Last Supper was not the inspiration, but the Greek god of celebration Dionysus. "We are sorry that Christians felt offended by the dinner scene where some believed they de- tected a parody of the Last Sup- per. Following the verse of Saint John, 'Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment', I wanted to wait for the explanation given by the artistic director of this ceremony," Von Der Mühll said. According to the Paris Olympics' artistic director Thomas Jolly, the tableau "Les Festivités' features Dionysius as the god of wine, which is an important symbol in France, and the father of Sequa- na, the goddess linked to the river Seine: "You will never find in me any desire to mock or denigrate. I wanted to organise a ceremony that would repair and reconcile, and that would reaffirm the values of our Republic: liberty, equality and fraternity." Von Der Mühll said in a state- ment also published to Facebook that France was a country of "free thought, secularism, the freedom to believe and the freedom not to believe. As such, she cherishes the freedom of creation, the freedom that guided the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which enchanted the world and will mark History." Von Der Mühll said France was also proud of its heritage and patrimony, having watched in horror when the cathedral of No- tre-Dame in Paris burned down. In a social media post, Archbish- op Scicluna had said he had sent two messages to the French am- bassador to Malta expressing his distress and disappointment of many Christians at the "gratuitous insult to the Eucharist" during the opening ceremony. He urged others to follow his lead and relay their objection to the ambassador. The Catholic church in France al- so issued a statement, claiming the tableau vivant was a scene of deri- sion and mockery of Christianity. Italian far-right leader Matteo Salvini said: "Opening the Olym- pics by insulting billions of Chris- tians in the world was really a very bad start, dear French. Sleazy." The tableau vivant at the Paris Olympics (left) was deemend offensive by Christians who claimed it mispreresented the Last Supper as depicted by Leonardo da Vinci. Right: Van Biljert's 'Feast of the Gods' from 1635.