Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/825522
maltatoday, THURSDAY, 18 MAY 2017 7 News People must vote out 'criminal clique', Busuttil tells St Paul's Bay MATTHEW VELLA SIMON Busuttil was yesterday welcomed to a fired-up audi- ence in St Paul's Bay, just an hour after revealing informa- tion that was handed to the Commissioner of Police in 2016 into a series of payments totalling €650,000 from Jo- seph Muscat's chief of staff Keith Schembri to the former managing director of the Al- lied Group, Adrian Hillman. Busuttil said Malta was now under an international spot- light, and that voters were tasked to choose a Malta "heaving under the weight of corruption" or one that was ready to turn a new page in its history. Busuttil said he will take to a magistrate investigating al- legations of kickbacks against Keith Schembri, contents of the information given to the Commissioner of Police which shows Schembri made repeated payments to Hill- man from 2011 to 2015. He said Schembri would transfer the money into a Gibraltar- ian company, then "launder it" by acquiring international bonds, and also said Schem- bri had a Credit Suisse ac- count. "What happens if on 3 June we send the message that we are ready to throw away our international reputation? What would happen to the financial services, gaming and property sectors," Busut- til said, painting an ominous picture of the aftermath of a Labour victory. "At this stage, there is noth- ing left but for voters to do what the police commis- sioner or Joseph Muscat did not do, to vote on 3 June first thing in the morning, and to choose Malta's future." Busuttil claimed he felt "sick to the stomach" in relaying the details of the €650,000 payments Schembri passed on to Hillman. "Schembri and Muscat are childhood friends, and Schembri is the man who stands behind Joseph Muscat. It wasn't enough to have re- vealed that he had taken kick- backs on the sale of Maltese citizenship," Busuttil said. "Today we can say that Cas- tille hosts a criminal clique," the PN leader continued. "The worst thing is that the people who should be taking action against these crimes, knew about them but did nothing about it. How can one not be angry about it," Busuttil said. Busuttil referred to the Uni- versity of Malta debate earlier in the day, where he accused Muscat of insulting students' intelligence by defending the indefensible. "People are not stupid, and that is why I am convinced that they will use their vote to take this country out of the dire straits it has found itself in," Busuttil said. Busuttil said he will take to a magistrate investigating allegations of kickbacks against Keith Schembri, contents of the information given to the Commissioner of Police which shows Schembri made repeated payments to Hillman from 2011 to 2015 Muscat: 'Labour true proponent of liberal equality' PAUL COCKS THE Labour government had proven to be a true believer in the rights of the gay commu- nity and will continue to work to ensure that Malta remains a truly liberal society where all persons are treated with equal dignity, Prime minister Joseph Muscat said. The Labour Party leader, speaking in Senglea at a public screening of discussion pro- gramme Pjazza hosted by Karl Stagno Navarra, was welcomed with enthusiasm by a large crowd of supporters as he and his wife appeared on set, mere minutes after opposition leader Simon Busuttil accused Mus- cat's chief of staff of graft and money laundering. "I am very pleased to have guided this country out of me- diocrity. As Felix Busuttil said last Sunday, we moved away from categories of citizens but instead made huge strides to- wards real equality," Muscat said. He said that Malta was, for the second year running, leading a list of countries with the most liberal legislation in favour of LGBTIQ persons. "We managed to do this be- cause we had the courage to make important decisions, as when we introduced civil un- ions," Muscat said. "Despite all surveys showing low accept- ance of such laws back then, we have shown that instead of be- ing afraid of numbers, we chose to change them, and today the majority of people readily ac- cept civil unions." He criticised "some people" who had abstained from that discussion, saying people were not ready to recognise civil un- ions or to see same-sex couples adopting children, when those same people were today trying to put themselves forward as paladins of liberal equality. Muscat said that proposals presented earlier in the after- noon by the Labour Party – free hormone replacement therapy for transgender individuals, gender balance on government boards, and gay marriage to re- place civil unions – were a giant liberal leap forward. He said that some people might feel these were minority issues that might also not be widely accepted, but he felt the Labour movement should hold on to equality as a principle at all costs. "Have we been perfect these past four years? No, but I think when you consider everything, the balance tips in favour of all the good things we have done," he said. Muscat reiterated his vow to introduce a bill legalising gay marriages before Parliament's summer recess and not to waste any unnecessary time. PN tax proposals would lead to dangerous level of precarious work On tax cut proposals pre- sented by the Nationalist Par- ty yesterday, Muscat said the "most unstable couple in politi- cal history" – PN leader Simon Busuttil and Democratic Party leader Marlene Farrugia – was creating ever more confusion day on day, to a point where this confusion was becoming dangerous. He noted that the PN had proposed that self-employed persons be taxed at a reduced rate than others. "When one considers this carefully, a self-employed ar- chitect that earns €50,000 will pay €4,000 in taxes, but an- other architect employed by a company would pay €9,000," he said. "This is dangerous because people would be in- centivised to register as self- employed instead of becoming employed." He said that the PN proposal would create a new level of pre- carious work in Malta, since self-employed did not enjoy leave or sick leave allowances and other benefits and did not enjoy the protection other workers did. "Our proposals, on the other hand, ensure that workers are treated equally and that eve- ryone benefit equally from the cuts and rebates we have put forward," Muscat said. Transgender Joanne Cassar and partner applied for adoption Transgender woman Joanne Cassar revealed that two years into her marriage, she has now applied for adoption. Cassar had filed a legal chal- lenge against the Maltese government in the European Court of Human Rights for re- fusing her the right to marry her boyfriend after having had gender reassignment. In 2013, the Labour govern- ment relinquished the case in the European Court and pre- sented amendments to the Civ- il Code under which transgen- der people are now considered as individuals of the acquired sex with full rights, including the right to marry. That same year, she was honoured in that year's Republic Day Gieh ir-Re- pubblika ceremony. Cassar's ordeal began in 2006, when – after undergoing a com- plex and expensive procedure to change her sex from male to female, and having her birth certificate amended accord- ingly - she was refused permis- sion to marry on the basis that the Marriage Act prohibited unions between persons of the same gender. Muscat reiterated his vow to introduce a bill legalising gay marriages before Parliament's summer recess and not to waste any unnecessary time