Close relationship between politicians and business threatens democracy

At a press conference in front of Parliament in Valletta, ADPD – The Green Party spokespersons addressed the threats posed to democracy because of the actions and behaviour of some politicians.

Deputy Chairperson Sandra Gauci said the recent publications of private chats between Member of Parliament Rosianne Cutajar and the entrepreneur Yorgen Fenech – who is also the alleged mastermind behind the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia – has once again brought strongly to the fore the close relationship that these businesspersons have with some politicians. Fenech was not only close to Cutajar but also to Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri. He was also treated favourably by the Planning Authority’s CEO Johann Buttigieg, as well as by the Malta Gaming Authority when renewing his Casino licence.

He is not the only one to receive such special treatment. One recalls developer Joseph Portelli boasting unashamedly in the media that he interacts with politicians on a daily basis and considers as normal the fact that he donates to the PL and the PN to ensure that they are both on his side. As ADPD – The Green Party we have always made it clear: we never asked for and (thankfully) never were offered any donations by Portelli.

The ambiguous position of Minister Silvio Schembri is also worrying. He is refusing to state whether he is paying rent for his constituencies’ offices in Siġġiewi and Luqa. These offices are owned by two property developers – Anton Camilleri and Paul Attard – both of whom sit on the Malta Developers Association’s Executive Committee. What is of concern is not just the arrogance being shown by Minister Schembri who is avoiding putting all his cards on the table as accountability demands of him, but the pervasiveness of the mentality of impunity and of low standards which is being seen repeatedly on a regular basis.

As ADPD we have always maintained that there should be a distance between public figures and businesspersons. Hence our insistence for the need for full-time Members of Parliament. This would mean that MPs would be able to carry these better, and remove or reduce the overdependence of some MPs on the business world. Members of Parliament should dedicate themselves exclusively to Parliamentary duties. Members of Parliament should not be allowed to carry out any other work while in office. This should also include Members of Parliament being precluded from sitting on Authorities’ and Commissions’ boards both in the public and private sector.

ADPD – The Green Party General Secretary Dr Ralph Cassar referred to the consultancy contract awarded to Rosianne Cutajar by the ITS CEO. This showed the reciprocal scratch-my-back-and-I-will-scratch-yours mentality in place between the political appointees and politicians. It is a disgrace that public officials are not able to lead in a professional manner but concern themselves more with wasting public funds to satisfy the greed of the few. According to Rosianne Cutajar there are quite a few others who do not consider politics as a service but as a means to satisfy their greed. We must put a stop to this! We are doind our part to fight this mentality and have in fact asked the Auditor General to investigate the ITS contract awarded to MP Rosianne Cutajar. There seem to be enough funds to satisfy MPs greed but no funds for decent salaries for nurses, teachers and other employees.

The law regulating the financing of political parties should be improved. It does not make sense that political parties self-regulate thanks to the Electoral Commission which is composed of parties represented in Parliament. Moreover, the state aid to parties is limited to parties currently in Parliament. This should be extended to all registered political parties obtaining at least 1% of the votes cast in General Elections, European Parliament Election or that for Local Councils; and that parties reaching such a threshold receive an annual state grant on the basis of the number of votes obtained. Donations to political parties from an individual should not exceed €5000 in any year; this is currently capped at €25,000, and should be reduced. It is pertinent to note the the law on the financing of political parties has a huge loophole which allows donations used for political purposes to be hidden through the private companies owned by PL and PN. The most obvious examples are TV stations ONE and NET which are PL’s and PN’s main vehicles for political outreach. Donations received by ONE and NET are disguised as the purchasing of services from these companies and are not declared as donations in the respective party’s accounts. The law regulating the financing of political parties is by-passed, the limits imposed by this law are avoided. This is nothing but money laundering.

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Il-qrubija tal-politiċi man-negozjanti periklu għad-demokrazija

Waqt konferenza stampa l-Belt Valletta quddiem il-Parlament il-kelliema ta’ ADPD – The Green Party tkellmu dwar il-problemi għad-demokrazija li joħolqu xi politiċi minħabba l-imġieba tagħhom.

Id-Deputat Chairperson Sandra Gauci qalet li l-ippubblikar riċenti ta’ chats privati bejn il-Membru Parlamentari Rosianne Cutajar u l-imprenditur Yorgen Fenech li hu ukoll l-allegat mandant tal-qtil ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia reġa’ ġab quddiem għajnejn kulhadd u b’saħħa l-qrubija li jgawdu dawn l-imprendituri ma’ uħud mill-politiċi. Fenech mhux biss kien qrib Cutajar imma kien qrib ukoll ta’ Joseph Muscat u ta’ Keith Schembri. Kellu ukoll trattament privileġġat mingħand Johann Buttigieg fl-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar, kif ukoll trattament privileġġat mill-Malta Gaming Authority biex iġedded il-liċenzja tal-Casino tiegħu.

Mhux hu biss kellu dan it-trattament privileġġat. Ma ninsewx il-ftaħir fuq il-mezzi tax-xandir da parti tal-iżviluppatur Joseph Portelli fejn qal bla mistħija ta’ xejn lill-ġurnalist li kien qed jintervistah li hu jitkellem mal-politici kuljum u jgħaddiha bħala xi ħaġa normali l-fatt li jagħti donazzjonijiet lill-PL u l-PN  biex żgur ikunu it-tnejn li huma fil-but tiegħu. Aħna ta’ ADPD – The Green Party dejjem konna skjetti u ċari fil-pożizzjoni taghna:  la qatt tlabna u (fortunatament) lanqas qatt ma offrielna donazzjonijiet, Portelli.

Bħalissa il-pożizzjoni ambigwa tal-Ministru Silvio Schembri hija wkoll inkwetanti għax il-Ministru qed jirriffjuta li jwieġeb jekk hux qiegħed iħallas kera għall-uffiċċji tiegħu fil-kostitwenzi tiegħu tas- Siġġiewi u Ħal Luqa. Dawn l-uffiċini mhux propjetà tiegħu imma ta’ żewġ żviluppaturi  Anton Camilleri, u Paul Attard, it-tnejn li huma fl-Eżekuttiv tal-Malta Developers Association. Din il-ħaġa ta’ tħassib għax filwaqt li hemm ċertu arroganza min-naħa tal-Ministru Schembri li qed jevita milli jkun kontabbli  dwar dak li qed jirċievi, din it-tip ta’ mentalità li “jien għax għandi l-poter qiegħed ‘il fuq mil-liġi” qed narawha b’ mod repetut u regolari.

Aħna ta’ ADPD dejjem sħaqna li għandu jkun hemm id-distanza bejn in-nies fil-ħajja pubblika u dawk li qegħdin fin-negozju. Jekk dan ma jsirx  jista’ jagħti lok għall-abbuż. Huwa għalhekk li dejjem insistejna li anke l-Membri Parlamentari għandhom ikunu full time mhux biss biex jaqdu aħjar dmirijiethom imma wkoll biex jinqata’ jew jitnaqqas kuntatt kontinwu mad-dinja tan-negozju. L-uniku xogħol ta’ membru parlamentari għandu jkun dak fil-Parlament. M’għandux ikun possibbli għal Membri Parlamentari li jagħmlu xogħol ieħor waqt li jkunu fil-ħatra. Dan jinkludi wkoll li Membru Parlamentari ma jkunx jista jinħatar fuq bordijiet ta’ awtoritajiet u kummissjonijiet kemm dawk maħtura fis-settur pubbliku, kemm dawk fis-settur privat.

Is-Segretarju Ġenerali ta’ ADPD – The Green Partry Dr Ralph Cassar kompla billi ġab l-eżempju tal-każ tal-kuntratt ta’ konsulenza ta’ Rosianne Cutajar mal-ITS. Dan juri biċ-ċar kemm politiċi u persuni maħtura politikament biex imexxu entitajiet pubbliċi iħokku dahar xulxin. Huwa ta’ għajb li uffiċċjali pubbliċi mhux kapaċi jmexxu b’serjetà u aktar moħħhom biex jingħoġbu u jtajru flus pubbliċi biex jissodisfaw l-aptit għat-tħanżir ta’ xi wħud. Skont Rosianne Cutajar hawn ħafna jitħanżru mas-saqajn. Hawn ħafna li l-politika minflok bħala servizz jarawha bħala mezz biex jitħanżru. Lil dawn in-nies irridu nieqfulhom. Aħna qed nagħmlu l-parti tagħna u filfatt tlabna lill-Awditur Ġenerali jinvestiga fuq liema kriterji s-CEO tal-ITS ta kuntratt lil Rosianne Cutajar. Għal pagi diċenti għall-infermiera, l-għalliema u mpjegati oħra m’għandux il-gvern. Imma biex Membri Parlamentari jitħanżru l-flus jinstabu!

Il-liġi tal-finanzjament tal-partiti politici għandha titjieb. Ma jagħmilx sens  li l-partiti politiċi jirregolaw  lilhom infushom permezz tal-Kummissjoni Elettorali hi komposta minn rappreżentanti tal-partiti fil-parlament. L-iskema tal-finanzjament tal-partiti mill-istat hi limitata biss għal-partiti li qegħdin fil-parlament. Din għandha tkun estiża għal partiti politiċi kollha reġistrati u li jkunu minn tal-inqas kisbu 1% tal- voti f’ Elezzjoni Ġenerali, Elezzjoni tal-Parlament Ewropew jew inkella tal-Kunsill Lokali u partit li jissodisfa dal-kriterji jirċievi direttament mill-istat għotja kull sena għal kull vot miksub. Id-donazzjoni massima li partiti politiċi jistgħu jirċievu m’għandhiex taqbeż il-€5000 fis-sena mingħand persuna partikolari. Dan il-limitu bħalissa hu ta €25,000, dan għandu jonqos. Ta’ min isemmi li l-liġi dwar il-finanzjament għandha toqba kbira fiha għax l-kumpaniji tal-PL u l-PN huma filfatt mezz kif jingħataw donazzjonijiet li ma jidhrux. Eżempju huma l-istazzjonijiet tat-TV ONE u NET li jintużaw għal skop politiku, imma d-donazzjonijiet jingħataw lil dawn l-istazzjonijiet ma jiġux dikjarati bħala donazzjonijiet lill-partit rispettiv skont il-liġi tal-finanzjament tal-partiti. Fi ftit kliem finanzjament moħbi u ħasil tal-flus.

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