Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/538516
8 JURGEN BALZAN THE opposition yesterday pro- posed that non-residents and companies or trusts whose shareholders cannot be traced are prohibited from donating money to political parties. As the committee discussion on the party financing bill con- tinued, opposition MP Clau- dio Grech said such donations would "expose the country and the political system to unneces- sary risks" and proposed a new clause to prohibit donations from people who do not vote in Malta and companies or trusts whose ultimate beneficiaries are unknown. Attorney General Peter Grech explained that while the draft bill does not make a distinction between Maltese and foreign citizens, he said that other laws already prohibit "alien" individ- uals and companies to donate money to political parties dur- ing electoral campaigns. In reaction to the opposition's proposal, justice minister Owen Bonnici said that although he had no qualm in allowing for- eign citizens and companies to donate money to political par- ties, the proposal to prohibit donations by secretive trusts would be "studied." Moreover, Bonnici said, he was open to the possibility of widen- ing the definition of anonymous donations to cover trusts and other companies whose benefi- ciaries are untraceable. Earlier, the committee agreed to have all donations between €50 and €500 registered, with parties obliged to register the name and ID card number of the donors. The draft law proposes that do- nations of €50 or under should remain anonymous as long as these are collected in public events organised by a party. Any donation over €50 needs to be registered but can remain confidential unless the elector- al commission has reasonable proof to carry out an investiga- tion and request the details of the donations in the band. Donations between €500 and €7,000 needs to be registered but do not need to be individu- ally disclosed to the Electoral Commission unless requested. Parties are obliged to automati- cally disclose details of dona- tions over €7,000 while any- thing over €40,000 is illegal. Nationalist MP Claudio Grech argued that this effectively means that all donations under €500 are anonymous because the names of the donators can- not be revealed and cannot be traced. "We don't agree with anonymous donations between €50 and €500," he said. AD deputy chairperson Car- mel Cacopardo concurred and said that all donations under €7,000 would remain confiden- tial unless the commission de- mands otherwise. Denying that this was tanta- mount to a loophole, Bonnici argued that there should be a difference between anonym- ity and confidentiality and said that the current structure al- lows people to donate up to €500 without having his name disclosed as long as the elec- toral commission does not have reasonable proof to investigate the donations. The opposition also f loated the proposal to limit donations to €40,000 over the period of three consecutive calendar years in- stead as the draft law allows the donation of €200,000 from the same source in one single legis- lature. Bonnici made a counter pro- posal and the committee agreed on reducing the yearly threshold to €25,000. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 8 JULY 2015 News MEPA seeks legal advice to challenge Montekristo trade fair permit MARTINA BORG THE Malta Environment and Planning Authority is seeking le- gal advice to oppose a recommen- dation issued by a police licences appeals board that green-lit a per- mit for the Fiera l-Kbira trade fair at Montekristo Estates, despite MEPA's objections. A MEPA official has confirmed with MaltaToday that illegalities on site at Charles Polidano's Mon- tekristo Estates, which will host 230 exhibitors at a trade fair on 9 July, were still in play. The official said claims by Mon- tekristo's CEO Jean-Paul Sam- mut that a number of contentious structures in an open area had been removed, was untrue and that the enforcement notice out- lined in MEPA's website was still valid. "We have been making these submissions on Montekristo's il- legalities for the past six months," the official said. But yesterday, fair manager Paul Abela and Sammut said that it was only a small area of the property that was being disputed for the siting of the fair, leading to a tem- porary delay in the issuance of a police permit for the fair. Sammut said that the company had responded to objections made by MEPA about the illegally built structures. "We're very disap- pointed that MEPA is still con- testing the case with the police li- censes tribunal, even up until last night," he said. The police originally withheld the permit after MEPA objected to a permit being given, because of enforcement orders on the site at Hal-Farrug. "Polidano Bros. has worked with MEPA to remove a number of contentious structures from the property, including rooms in the animal park (demolished dur- ing April and May this year) and buildings near the entrance to the estate, behind the parking lot," Sammut said. He said that disused areas had been cleaned up and embellished with trees and plants. Sammut pointed out that the structures which had been re- moved had been situated in the area being used for the fair and that other structures on the rest of the premises were still under discussion. The buildings mentioned include the replica of a Knights' tower, a classical-style building, and a four-storey edifice with a pool be- ing used as a cafeteria among oth- ers, which had been targeted for demolishing by MEPA in 2013. Sammut however railed against what he said was "bureaucracy" that he claimed prevented "co- operative" people from getting positive results immediately, and stressed the trade fair's economic importance and the risk it was placed in by "excessive bureauc- racy". The trade fair is expected to at- tract over 100,000 visitors. "The fair is the country's greatest com- mercial activity with its over 400 stands and over 250 exhibitors," Paul Abela said. Gozitan visitors will be allowed to enter the fair for free upon pres- entation of their ferry ticket and that they would still be entitled to all the prizes should they win. He also stressed that parking and public transport issues, which had been problematic in the past, will be alleviated by more parking and traffic wardens. Greece set to demand new aid programme CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The rap- prochement mitigates the danger of the European Central Bank pulling the plug on Greek banks, which are bleeding cash and have been shut for seven business days. Greece's failure to propose a written plan was met with a tide of skepticism before yesterday's extraordinary summit, with Mer- kel saying that "the path we have to take isn't possible without re- forms." Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte pronounced himself "somb- er" and Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said he was "quite pes- simistic about the situation." How- ever, Italian prime minister Mattei Renzi sounded more optimistic than other leaders and said a deal with Greece can be found in the hours ahead. Renzi also cautioned, though, that Europe needs more than a mere 'technical solution' to the crisis. Although no plan was forthcom- ing from Athens, a Greek govern- ment official acknowledged that it would be making some "improve- ments" to the bailout proposal it submitted last week. The measure will cover economic reforms, in- vestment and debt settlement, the official said. Greece will make a proposal to tap into the European Stabil- ity Mechanism - Europe's bailout fund by today, Eurogroup presi- dent Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at the end of a meeting of the Eu- rozone's 19 finance ministers on Tuesday. Dijsselbloem also confirmed that the new Greek finance minis- ter, Euclid Tsakalotos, failed to put forward any written proposals for a bailout deal to avoid a Grexit. The Dutch finance minister also told reporters he "broadly agreed" that Greece is in need of more than a short-term financial fix. "The ministers also broadly agreed that if there is to be another ESM pro- gram with support it would have to be a medium term program for reasons of credibility," he said. Dijsselbloem added that the eurozone would have to assess Greece's financial situation before deciding whether to start talks on a possible new aid programme. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met Merkel, French Presi- dent Francois Hollande and Euro- pean Commission President Jean- Claude Juncker before yesterday evening's summit and is expected to address the European parlia- ment today. Following Sunday's resound- ing victory in the referendum held over the creditor's proposals, Tsipras will reportedly demand that his country's €323 billion debt be cut by up to 30%, with a 20-year grace period. Meanwhile, senior EU sources said that another sum- mit, this time involving all EU leaders and not only the Eurozone members, will be held on Sunday to approve a plan to aid Greece if creditor institutions are satisfied with a Greek loan application and reform plan which may be submit- ted this week. Opposition demands ban on party donations by secretive trusts Parties agreed to reduce yearly threshold from €40,000 to €25,000 The Fiera l-Kbira is set to go ahead despite illegalities on site