Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/809226
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 APRIL 2017 6 MATTHEW VELLA ALTERNATTIVA Demokratika, the Green Party, has called on the government to amend the party financing law and substitute the Electoral Commissioner with the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life as the appropriate au- thority for the implementation of party financing rules. The Commission is in the pro- cess of investigating an alleged breach of the rules by the Nation- alist Party, over possible hundreds of thousands in donations from subsidiaries of the db Group that were paid to the PN's media arm Media.Link in the guise of adverts. "One of the complaints of a very serious nature which will be ex- amined by the Commission is that concerning the Nationalist Party concerning the possible use of its commercial companies to camou- flage political donations which, it is being alleged, it received in con- travention of the law. "AD believes that this complaint should be investigated as soon as possible but it is aware that the Electoral Commission is not the ideal place for this to be done. AD has been emphasising this point for the past three years," deputy chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said. The members of the Electoral Commission are selected almost exclusively on political criteria: four selected by Government, four selected by the Opposition and a Chairman who is selected by government. The Commission has also re- ceived a complaint from AD, with a sub-committee of the Com- mission examining the Labour Party's parliamentary group use of the Girgenti Palace for one of its meetings. But Cacopardo reiterated that it was important that it is the Com- missioner for Public Standards that assumes the role of investi- gator of the parties and financing breaches. On 22 March, Parliament ap- proved the Standards in Public Life Act as a result of which, sub- ject to the approval of a two-thirds majority, Parliament will be able to appoint the first Commissioner for Standards in Public Life. "This is a very good step forward as a result of which government and Opposition have managed to successfully address a basic issue of ethics in public life. It is proof that where there is a will, results can be achieved," Cacopardo said. "This was the underlying moti- vation for the proposal made by Alternattiva Demokratika over three years ago that this Commis- sioner for Standards in Public Life should also have been entrusted with the implementation of the financing laws instead of the Elec- toral Commission as proposed by government." Cacopardo said that while the selection of the Commissioner would undoubtedly lead to the identification of a person of in- tegrity acceptable to all, it was unfortunate that the government had ignored the proposal to seek alternatives to the Electoral Com- mission as the regulatory author- ity on party financing. "This will now lead to a pro- longed period of contestation, possibly in Court, and conse- quently will lead to delays in the implementation of the law." MATTHEW VELLA THE former TV presenter and newspaper editor Julia Farrugia will be standing as a Labour candidate on the fifth district, in a race that will see the votes of former district heavyweight Karmenu Vella and former La- bour MP Marlene Farrugia up for grabs. The Qrendi candidate, a known face in her long years of service for the Labour Party television channel, will compete for Labour votes in a district that will also host PL deputy leader Chris Cardona, former PL president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, justice minister Owen Bonnici, finance minister Edward Scicluna, as well as the prime min- isterial aide Glenn Bedingfield, also a for- mer colleague of Farrugia's at One News. Farrugia will however have the advantage of leveraging her father's past association with Karmenu Vella, for whom he acted as a canvasser. In the last election, Vella – known as 'il-Guy' – garnered over 5,200 first-preference votes, and was appointed minister for tourism before being nominat- ed for the post of European Commissioner. Since 2013, Julia Farrugia has worked at Projects Malta, the public-private partner- ship arm under the purview of minister Konrad Mizzi, and also serves as an advisor to Gozo minister Anton Refalo. Farrugia, a former Mid Med Bank em- ployee who later became a One TV anchor- woman and later took up an editorship at Illum newspaper, has also enjoyed a very strong TV presence on One TV, which means she enjoys the respect of Labourites in this predominantly red constituency. In 2013, Labour took four of the five seats up for grabs. One of these was Marlene Far- rugia's, who left the PL to take up a seat as an independent MP but will now run under the PN ticket in the name of her Democrat- ic Party, distinguishing herself on the ballot sheet with the nickname 'Orange Party' – the colour of the PD. Undoubtedly, Farrugia will be looking to strike at the heart of Marlene Farrugia's voter base, widely believed to be alienat- ed by the choice of the MP to contest the next election on an assimilated PN ticket through the loose coalition announced on Friday. Julia Farrugia told MaltaToday she had already been asked nine times to stand as candidate by Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat. "I had always ruled it out, but this time I took a decision to go for it and I must say that I am overwhelmed with the groundswell of support from many of the constituents," Farrugia, a mother of one, said. Labour is concerned with the percep- tion of growing dissatisfaction inside the fifth district, from 'old Labour' voters who complain they have been forgotten by MPs, especially after Karmenu Vella was kicked upstairs to his Brussels post. In 2013, Labour elected Vella, Marlene Farrugia, Joseph M. Sammut, and Edward Scicluna, while the PN elected Anthony Bezzina. Nationalist Jason Azzopardi nar- rowly missed clinching his second constitu- ency here, while MEP Da- vid Casa had a poor showing with just 786 first-preference votes. The fifth district comprises Birzebbugia, Kirkop, Marsaxlokk, Mqabba, Qrendi, Safi, and Zurrieq. In 2008, PN grandee Louis Galea, then education minister, lost his seat here when he was upended by the maver- ick Franco Debono, who would later break ranks with the PN. The PN's new candidates will include vet- eran PN councillor Hermann Schiavone. News Former journalist to run for Labour on fifth district "I had always ruled it out, but this time I took a decision to go for it" Julia Farrugia will bank on the support of hard- core Labour votes who traditionally backed Karmenu Vella, now EU Commissioner, and Marlene Farrugia, the former Labour MP who will now run under a PN ticket AD: Standards czar should investigate financing breaches Carmel Cacopardo (centre) said it should be the new Commissioner for Standards in Public Life to investigate party financing breaches