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8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JANUARY 2025 NEWS KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt KARL AZZOPARDI kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt Michael Falzon the 'straight- talker' is laid to rest MICHAEL Falzon was a "straight-talker" and a man who served his country, the priest celebrating the funeral mass of the former PN minister said. Falzon, 79, died last week and was laid to rest today. The funer- al mass was held at the church of the Divine Mercy in Naxxar and was attended by Opposition leader Bernard Grech and his wife Anne Marie, Speaker Anglu Farrugia and several other dig- nitaries, including MPs past and present. Fr Michael recounted an an- ecdote of when he met Falzon many years ago. "I was parish priest in Safi and I had expressed my wish of ex- tending the church onto the parvis because it was too small for the growing community. Michael touched his moustache and with his characteristic smile told me, 'Father, extend the church in whatever direction you want; sideways, backwards but I won't let you touch the fa- cade because it has architectur- al value'," the priest recounted. "That was Michael for you, hon- est and straight, something I al- ways respected about him." The sentiment echoed the words that Falzon's wife Mary- anne and his son David had mes- saged to the priest ahead of the mass. Falzon was elected to parlia- ment for the first time in 1976 with the Nationalist Party and kept being elected at each elec- tion until 1996. After the 1987 election victo- ry by the PN, he was appointed infrastructure minister. He sub- sequently also held the post of environment minister. He is credited for creating the Planning Authority and the first planning master plan in the early 1990s. The move was intended to remove permitting from the direct hands of the minister. In the 1992 legislature he also served as education minister. He failed to get elected to par- liament the 1996 general elec- tion and unsuccessfully contest- ed the first European election held in 2004 on the PN ticket. In 2011, along with developer Sandro Chetcuti, he helped set up the Malta Developers Associ- ation, which went on to become a strong lobby group for devel- opers and the construction in- dustry. With an eye for journalism and analysis, Falzon had set up The People, a short-lived English language newspaper in the mid- 1990s. Sought after as a political ana- lyst in TV debates, Falzon's last appearance on the screen was on Xtra. He shared his views on current affairs, politics and international happenings every Sunday in his column on Malt- aToday. ADPD - The Green Party has slammed government for fail- ing to address shortcomings in transparency and accountability. "The Republic of Malta is seri- ously sick. The disease is the re- sult of a lack of good governance that has gnawed away at our institutions, resulting in gross abuse and corruption," the party said on Saturday. Chairperson Sandra Gauci and Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo addressed a press conference outside the Office of the Prime Minister at Castille in Valletta on Saturday morning. "The little that we know about these scandals is because of the continuous efforts of the Nation- al Audit Office (NAO), the Om- budsman and the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life. It is a result of their investigations that we now know, more clearly than ever, that the Labour Par- ty in government has not only allowed this abuse to fester but has also actively tried to cover it up. It is a government that con- tinuously closes both eyes to the ongoing abuse of public office," Cacopardo said. He said "serious accountabili- ty" is needed. "This means that everybody needs to take respon- sibility for their actions. This does not apply only to politicians who abuse their position of pow- er, but also the public officials who enable this to happen. This is what happened in every single case. Despite this, these enablers retain their current positions or are rewarded in other ways." Sandra Gauci spoke about the case of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, who she said enabled the abuse perpetrated by Justyne Caruana. He was removed from that post, only to be appointed as CEO of Aquatic Resources Mal- ta. She also added that the same occurred in the case of the Insti- tute for Tourism Studies, where a phantom job was created for Rosianne Cutajar, with the en- abler also embroiled in several other irregularities as well. "As a party, we pay attention to these things and we regularly bring things to the attention of the General Auditor as well as the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life about alleged irreg- ularities that need to be investi- gated." Sandra Gauci said that there are several pending requests submitted by ADPD for investi- gation. "This week we have asked for the appointment of Johann Butt- igieg as CEO of the Planning Authority, who is currently a consultant to a major developer, to be investigated. The Planning Authority should be in compe- tent hands, far from any direct influence from the developers' lobby. We have asked for an investigation because the clear conflict of interest here has been completely ignored. A person who is very close to the develop- ers' lobby should never be appointed as the regulator of development. This week we have also been in- formed by the Auditor General that our request for an investiga- tion into Project Green will pro- ceed," she said. She said the ADPD will contin- ue to push for transparency. "Accountability is necessary so that everybody takes responsi- bility for their actions. Without transparency and a strong sense of accountability, our country cannot navigate its way towards good governance," concluded Gauci. Former minister and MaltaToday coloumnist Michael Falzon laid to rest on Saturday morning The Republic is 'sick' and government has allowed wounds to 'fester', ADPD says Chairperson Sandra Gauci and Deputy Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo addressed a press conference outside the Office of the Prime Minister at Castille in Valletta on Saturday morning (Photo: ADPD) Michael Falzon's funeral mass was held at the church of the Divine Mercy in Naxxar (Photo: Martin Agius/NET News)