Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/240181
7 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 JANUARY 2014 Far-right leader Lowell cannot contest European elections JURGEN BALZAN FARRIGHTIST Norman Lowell cannot contest the European Parliament elections in May because the law prohibits anyone serving a sentence of imprisonment or anyone serving a suspended sentence from participating in the election. In July 2013, an appeals court confirmed a Magistrates' Court judgement which had condemned Lowell for inciting racial hatred. The original judgement had sentenced Lowell to a two-year jail term, suspended for four years and fined him €500. Following the appeal, in June 2013 the court reduced the jail term to 15 months, suspended for three years. A criminal law expert confirmed with MaltaToday that a suspended sentence enters into force the day after the appeals court hands its judgement, which would mean Lowell is still under the suspended sentence. The lawyer told MaltaToday that once an appeal is lodged, the original sentence is put on hold until the appeals court delivers its sentence, therefore Lowell's suspended sentence came into effect on 16 July 2013. The European Parliament Elections Act stipulates that: "No person shall be qualified to be registered in the European Union Electoral Register" if among others "he is serving a sentence of im- Norman Lowell prisonment (by whatever name called) exceeding 12 months imposed on him by a court in a member state, or substituted by competent authority for some other sentence imposed on him by such court, or is under such a sentence of imprisonment the execution of which has been suspended..." Effectively, the law bars Lowell from the electoral register, and the far-right leader who this week announced his candidature for the 24 May European elections would not be allowed to contest once he is struck off the electoral register. The Electoral Commission vets all submissions which are received a few weeks before the election and although MaltaToday is informed that such cases never occurred, given that parties never allowed anyone serving a jail sentence to contest elections, the commission would refuse Lowell's candidature if the far-rightist submits his nomination. The law also prohibits anyone who is declared incapacitated for any mental infirmity by a court, or convicted of any offence connected with the election of members of the House of Representatives, members of Local Councils or members of the European Parliament. Lowell announced his candidature on Friday. Imperium Europa, the far-right movement led by Lowell, will also field Antoine Galea for MEP. Far right: real fear or false alarm? THE spectre of the far-right is haunting mainstream centrist parties in Europe and with European Parliament elections just five months away, broad estimates suggest that populist anti-EU, neo-Nazi, xenophobic and protest parties might win up to 30% of the vote across the continent. This fear is already shaping policy in Brussels ahead of the May elections and eurocrats believe that this loose alliance of extremist parties could use the European Parliament to paralyse EU policy-making. Mainstream politicians and analysts compare the 2008 economic crisis which has crippled many European economies to the crisis which hit Europe in the early 20th century and which gave birth to the Nazis in Weimar Germany. However, there is no irrefutable academic evidence supporting the economiccrisis-breeds-extremism thesis. Instead, European politicians and eurocrats base these assumptions on what has happened in the aftermath of the greatest recession to have hit Europe since World War II. The notion that the Great Recession propelled the far right to new heights is mostly based on the success registered by two distinct farright parties in 2012 in France and in Greece. Mass unemployment and falling living standards across Europe, coupled with the self-defeating austerity obsession of European leaders have allowed the far right to fill in a vacuum left by the left and centreright. Vowing to slay "the monster in Brussels" and bring down the "European Soviet Union," Marie Le Pen has transformed the anti-Semitic party founded by her father JeanMarie into a popular party which stands a good chance of emerging as the biggest party in France in the May elections. Le Pen recently said that individual EU countries must control their borders, have their own currency and economic policy while technocrats must disappear. A recent poll in France put the Front National at 24% ahead of the governing Socialists and the mainstream conservatives while Wilders' Freedom party, is currently leading in Dutch opinion polls. Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party is being tipped as a possible winner of European elections in Britain. Alongside unemployment, austerity and rising inequality, today's farright is also likely to benefit from a collapse of public trust in established politics. Coming from the Dutch libertarian tradition, Geert Wilders is strongly pro-Israel, pro-gay and pro-women's rights, while Le Pen is widely seen as homophobic, anti-gay marriage, and anti-Israel. The two big policy areas they have in common are anti-immigration and anti-EU, however they both ruled out an alliance with more overtly neo-fascist parties such as Golden Dawn in Greece and Jobbik in Hungary, which targets the Roma minority. The Greek neo-Nazi party has been linked to murder and violent attacks against migrants. The party's leader, Nikos Michaloliakos, has been in pre-trial custody since the September murder of the left-wing rapper Pavlos Fyssas by a self-confessed party member and the hate-crime prompted a government crackdown that unmasked the group as a violent paramilitary organisation. So far, Norman Lowell's Imperium Europa has registered dismal electoral results. Unlike other European countries, the Maltese electorate has so far kept faith in the established Consultancy Services Malta Air Traffic Services Ltd (MATS), the air navigation service provider (ANSP) for Malta, invites offers for consultancy service in connection with the development of an Air Traffic Control (ATC) operational training, competency and performance plan based on current EU and ICAO requirements. The profile required is: • International experience and expertise in ATC operations, training and maintenance of competency and performance • Knowledge of MATS current operating practices in training and assessment procedures • Knowledge of ATM safety and quality management systems • Ability to lead, manage and coordinate projects at ANSP level with a diverse group of ATS operational and management personnel Offers are to reach the Chief Executive Officer Malta Air Traffic Services Ltd, PO Box 1, Malta International Airport, Malta in a sealed envelope not later than 31st January 2014. Offers should be inclusive of methodology, required effort, estimated time plan and cost to deliver the product. A detailed curriculum vitae or firm's profile is also required. MATS Ltd reserves the right to refuse any offer, even the most advantageous. political class and xenophobic and racist voters are habitually absorbed by the two established parties. However, Lowell's anti-migrant speeches, his aversion to multiculturalism and veiled anti-Semitism still pose a threat to democracy and freedom which should not be ignored. The far-right parties across Europe remain a highly diverse collection of parties that are unlikely to win more than 20% of the 751 available seats, and even less likely to build a cohesive alliance in Brussels. While some of the more established movements look set to score important victories, other parties are likely to remain firmly on the fringe.