No going back on hunting

I was very pleased at the joint press release issued by the united environmental NGOs urging MEP candidates to respect the Birds Directive and to refrain from impossible promised to the hunting lobby.

At AD, we have obviously never made such promises, but it seems that the other political parties are, in a campaign of confusion which aims to distract the electorate from the real issues, and extrapolates from the truth in what is a veritable exercise in misinformation.

This release further convinces me of the independence of our NGOs who, although necessarily courted by all parties and candidates, have still retained their visions and ideals, and have spoken out on what most matters to them and on what determines their role in civil society.

It also shows that early attempts by certain budding candidates to occupy the political space concerning civil society and the environment has failed miserably, mostly because environmental greenwash and posturing are not borne out of conviction, but solely of political expediency.

Whilst not wanting to ride the NGOs wave, I feel proud to declare that AD has always been credible and consistent with regards to environment, and especially the hunting issue. During my campaign, I have frequently met hunters who, although obviously diametrically opposed to our stand, respect us for our beliefs, and feel offended at the continuous attempts at duping them with false promises by other parties and candidates.

One must mention that the ban on spring hunting was one of the first and greatest victories for the majority of the population who believed in the European dream. It seems however that some candidates and particular parties want to go back on the done deal, or else purport to modify something that cannot be.

I trust that the electorate considers this fact in the polling booth, and realises who the most credible and consistent party on this matter was.

http://www.alternattiva2009.eu

Campaigning by confusion

In order to discredit their political opponents, certain PN exponents selectively extrapolated random facts from the complex process of the European Parliament vote, so as to mislead public opinion ”

The title may say it all, and I will be returning to it in greater detail. But today I would like to delve into the PN’s latest tactic: economising on the truth in order to confuse the electorate.

There have been many occasions of this tactic from day one, but the latest one has been the dishonest spin with regards to granting voting rights to immigrants. In order to discredit their political opponents, certain PN exponents selectively extrapolated random facts from the complex process of the European Parliament vote, so as to mislead public opinion.

The PN are misleading when giving the impression that illegal and irregular migrants will be given the right to vote. Wrong. It is only legal migrants, with regular residence permits, after living a number of years in the country, who would be given the right to vote.

The PN are misleading when they suggest that migrants would vote at national elections. Wrong. Legal migrants would be allowed to vote only at local elections and not at national elections.

The PN are misleading when they give the impression that our country would be forced to give the above-mentioned voting rights. Wrong. Each country would decide individually whether to implement this recommendation or not.

One must also mention that, last Monday, the Greens in the European Parliament last Monday voted in the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament to revise the Dublin regulation so that countries like Malta, which are facing disproportionate migratory pressure, benefit from a legally-binding responsibility sharing mechanism, which would allow for the reallocation of immigrants among EU countries. This will ensure that burden sharing is mandatory and not voluntary.

All Green MEPs on the committee, Jean Lambert, Johannes Voggenhuber and Margaret Auken, were present to vote in favour of this measure. One must recall that it was Ms Lambert, in her first parliamentary report on the subject around a year and a half ago, that brought up the need of a revision of the Dublin Convention, following consultations with Alternattiva Demokratika.

On the same day, the Civil Liberties Committee also approved Ms Lambert’s report on the setting up of EASO (European Asylum Support Office). The aim of the setting up of EASO is to provide the necessary expert assistance to help in the delivery of a consistent and high quality Common European Asylum Policy.

Thanks to Ms Lambert, things will change. In her report she has deleted the original reference to the “voluntary” nature of burden or responsibility sharing. Member States will benefit through the introduction of a new support office, not least in the development of mutual confidence and sharing of responsibility with smaller states like Malta.

It is still sad however to see how this migration issue is being handled by some politicians in the Nationalist Party, mostly through wilful transmission of this misleading information for a handful of votes.

I am very disappointed at the fact that the PN has shown no qualms in sowing the seeds of racial hatred in our country, and is playing with fire when undermining the general unity shown by democratic parties with regards to the immigration problem, while showing itself ready to sacrifice our country’s social stability to the egoistic needs of the party.

http://www.alternattiva2009.eu

An experienced team

“ Our electoral slogan is made up of three simple words: ENERGY, EXPERIENCE, EUROPE ”

I must say that this has been a gruelling but wonderful campaign, and the last month will be as intense. Together with my fellow candidate Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros, we are meeting daily with hundreds of people from different walks of life to discuss the importance of electing a Green MEP come the 6th June.

Our electoral slogan is made up of three simple words: ENERGY, EXPERIENCE, EUROPE. Three simple words that however describe the essence of our campaign, and the characteristics of AD’s political work in the last year. We believe that we are providing a team that has the energy and the experience to help Malta succeed in Europe, and for this reason we have fielded a team that, so to say, combines the ‘old’ and the ‘new’. Yvonne may be a political rookie, but she has shown that she has the necessary mettle to engage with people, listen to their concerns, and inject a humane dimension into a political scene that is often distant from the aspirations of the man in the street.

On the other hand, I humbly present my track record in European Affairs, which culminated in my tenure as Secretary-General of the European Greens. This experience gave me a deep insight into the workings of the European Institutions and made me reaslie that European politics is a matter of consensus and compromise, rather than fruitless and divisive feuding.

A consensus that is brought about by discussion within different political groupings, where one can witness a fine balance between national interests and party ideology. Malta’s limited presence in the EP means that we have a precious representation that must be united and put country first, notwithstanding what their EP political grouping might dictate. I resolve to put this into practice once elected to the European Parliament.

The EP is currently composed of 10 political groupings, and Malta is only represented in two of them. Electing a Green MEP would mean having Malta influencing 50 other MEPs from another political group. Malta will become much stronger with another voice in the European Parliament.

AD has always been a pro-European party and has stood consistent to its beliefs. The Maltese and Gozitans recognised this and had rewarded us with 23,000 first count votes (which then rose to 29,000 with later preferences) in 2004.

This is a tighter election but I’m still confident that we can continue spreading our message and convincing people that electing a Green MEP is a good deal.

Chaos at the Freeport?

Any prospected disruption of work at the Freeport is absolutely unacceptable, especially in this period of grave economic uncertainty for the country and the whole international community.
Why have we reached this point? Because of a simple issue concerning Union membership recognition.
Well, it is absolute folly that things should escalate this way.
On the other hand, it was a grave mistake on the part of the government officials today to call in one by one the workers at Freeport to declare their membership on a face to face basis. This is a grave mistake, an abuse of workers’ rights and should not be tolerated. Just the same as when in 1997 the Alfred Sant led government used the same tactic with the UĦM.
The solution to the whole impasse is very simple: just have a secret ballot amongst the workers and within two hours we will know which Union has a majority.
But stop putting the country’s economy in jeopardy.

arnoldcassola@gmail.com

GIVING LISA A HELPING HAND

GIVING LISA A HELPING HAND

The Malta Red Cross has been forced to cancel plans to send a team to Cambodia to assist a Maltese girl, Lisa Gatt, who was seriously injured in a traffic accident last week.
The plight of this Maltese girl has created quite a furore, judging by the comments in The Times. Okay, she might have been rash in preparing her trip, in not buying out an insurance.

But should we penalize her for that now that she is lying in a hospital bed somewhere in Cambodia? I certainly don’t believe so. Let us give her all the help she needs to get back home close to her beloved ones.

Any scolding or reprimands should wait till after Lisa has recovered from this sad adventure.

arnoldcassola@gmail.com

ALTERNATTIVA DEMOKRATIKA MANIFESTO FOR EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

The Alternattiva Demokratika manifesto was approved at an extraordinary general meeting over the weekend.

In the section on European values, AD said it will promote policies for stronger families.

“Apart from traditional family forms, different forms of cohabitating couples should be protected. This should be done through the recognition of registered partnerships, including formations such as those in cohabitation and separated persons, people tied by family links (e.g. mother daughter) and same-sex partners.”

The party added that in the current situation where divorce may be obtained from other countries, even by Maltese citizens, it will promote legislation on divorce in Malta.

The party said it will also promote the harmonisation of EU family policies in areas such as child-care, parental leave and work-life balance, to help bring about stronger families.

On immigration, the party said Malta should give due importance to the humanitarian realities of immigrants, while also having a clear integration policy that matches immigrants’ rights with responsibilities, always in respect of the law.

The party promised to work to strengthen environmental legislation and said that it would promote policies to counter the negative effects of the current economic crisis, to counter insecure job contracts and exploitation, and for more female participation in employment.

It would also back current European Commission initiatives “to remove double registration tax on motor vehicles.”

Party leader Arnold Cassola spoke at the general meeting on the ‘Green New Deal’ which all Green Parties throughout the EU are pushing for in their campaign. He said that in Malta the other parties were talking green but their voting record in the European Parliament showed that theirs was only greenwash.

He said that AD looked beyond the short term. Had the government planned well especially in the energy sector, Malta would not be faced with the current huge price hikes in utility bills, he concluded.

SAVING LIVES AND ERADICATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

I look forward to the start of the Italo-Libyan patrols that should save human lives and stem the mass trafficking of irregular migrants from the northern shores of Africa.

The latest tragedy at sea yesterday, with over 300 people missing, is a sad event that should make all aware of the cruelty that human trafficking brings along with it.

I welcome the declaration by Italy that on 15 May the joint sea patrols by Libya and Italy will start. However, in view of the extremely slow, late and normally inadequate response by the EU authorities, we at AD urge the Italian and Libyan governments to start these patrols immediately. These joint patrols should not only help to save hundreds of lives but should also contribute to stopping heartless human traffickers.

I trust that the Libyan and Italian authorities live up to this great responsibility and give their strong commitment to the curbing of abuse by traffickers and to the saving of human lives.

arnoldcassola@gmail.com

Hold-ups and robberies

A 33-year-old woman was robbed at knife-point early yesterday morning in Wilġa Street, Paceville.

The police said the Czech woman from St Paul’s Bay was walking with a 24-year-old woman from Qormi when two hooded men ran to the foreigner, put a knife to her throat and ran off with her handbag.

What is happening? These robberies in open streets in normally highly frequented areas like Paceville are becoming more and more frequent.

Prevention is better than cure. We need more bobbies walking the streets to dissuade those ill intentioned from carrying on with their plans.

arnoldcassola@gmail.com

Malta – Libya: Is something moving?

It is good to see that a memorandum of understanding on search and rescue in open seas has been signed between Malta and Libya.
I believe that this agreement should not only save lives in the sea separating Libya from Lampedusa, Sicily and Malta, but should also serve to crack down on the organised traffic of irregular migrants.
All joint efforts of the Maltese, Libyan, Italian and EU authorities should be bent on destroying the illegal trafficking web that has been allowed to operate and proliferate comfortably for so many years. Let’s get cracking on this wound that has been allowed to fester for so long.

arnoldcassola@gmail.com

BARROT CALLS FOR AID TO MALTA?

The Times reports that EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot has urged the European Commission to increase its aid to Malta in view of the problem of illegal migration.

According to the information note prepared by Mr Barrot’s cabinet, ‘due to its small size and population density’ Malta is having to carry a disproportionate burden which needs to be addressed by the EU on the ‘short, medium and long term’.

In his note, Commissioner Barrot suggests that the EU executive should consider increasing its financial help to the island and to tackle this issue with a stronger political will.

Good to see this political will materializing as quickly as possible. The major issue is effective responsibility sharing on the part of all 27 EU member states. Let’s get moving on this Monsieur Barrot.

arnoldcassola@gmail.com