Bernard Grech asks Abela whether ‘he had leadership in mind’ during Muscat consultancy

Mar 23 2022

This evening, Prime Minister and Labour leader Robert Abela and Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech went head to head for one last time ahead of the March 26 general election.

The debate held at the PBS building in Gwardamanġa, was moderated by TVM’s Liam Carter who invited the party leaders to give their respective opening statements before going over some of the election’s major talking points. The Nationalist Party leader explained his enthusiasm in explaining the PN’s vision for common good and a better Malta.

Highlighting that this is his first time debating Robert Abela on Malta’s public broadcasting platform, Grech categorically denied declaring €6,000 ‘whilst working as a lawyer’ and that such statements are lies. Such an amount was declared due to Grech, at that time, choosing to father his children, “as opposed to eating from four, five and 6 mouths as Robert Abela does.”

The PN leader went on to ask Robert Abela whether, whilst working as a legal consultant for then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, he took certain decisions to put Muscat in a precarious position to eventually assume leadership of the Labour Party and eventually, the country.

In light of such claims, Abela stated that Grech remains focused on him rather on focusing on the people and improving quality of life.

What do you make of this claim?

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350 PL pledges out of 1000 are just for Gozo says Prime Minister

Mar 23 2022

Prime Minister Robert Abela stated during a political rally that up to 350 of the 1000 proposals in the party’s electoral manifesto are dedicated to Gozo alone.

Speaking in Xewkija, Gozo, on Wednesday, the Labour leader said that in the last few days, he was speaking of the future that the PL is envisaging for Gozo. Gozo will no longer be a ‘periphery’, but a centre of the party’s politics.

Abela said that the party has no fewer than 350 proposals dedicated to Gozo and that this is double the amount put forward by the Nationalist Party. He went on to highlight some proposals, among them the pledge to make Gozo carbon neutral before Malta.

He also said that dumpsites will be turned into green areas and make the already-beautiful island even more beautiful. One of the green areas will be created in Rabat, Gozo, said the Prime Minister.

He went on to urge the supporters to vote on the 26th of March to make these pledges a reality. Gozo could, if the party is given government, surpass Malta from an economical standpoint said Abela.

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Male contraceptive pill 99% effective at preventing pregnancy

Mar 23 2022

A major scientific breakthrough was made by scientists working on a male contraceptive pill after finding it 99% effective in preventing pregnancy.

The pill was tested on mice, and the findings were presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Apart from resulting as highly effective, no side effects were reported.

Side effects had been an issue in many previous attempts to develop contraception for males. Up until now, the only options for male birth control have been condoms or vasectomies.

The new findings of this new non-hormonal drug were presented by Dr Abdullah Al Noman, who said that scientists have been trying for decades to develop an effective male oral contraceptive.

‘There are still no approved pills on the market’ he said. ‘We wanted to develop a non-hormonal male contraceptive pill to avoid these side effects.’ The pills of course await human trials and if results are positive, could become the first male contraceptive pill available.

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PN loses court case to redo prison voting

Mar 23 2022

The Nationalist Party lost the court case demanding that there be a re-run of the early voting held at the prison on Saturday. The Constitutional Court cited a lack of jurisdiction after the PN claimed irregularities.

The Opposition had argued that prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for more than a year had been allowed to vote, despite this being a violation of electoral law.

Arguing through its lawyer Ian Refalo, the Electoral Commission said that if the PN’s request was to be upheld the commission would not be able to wrap up the election process.

‘This is the first time they are trying to stop the electoral process’ said Refalo. He insisted that the party could have filed an application at the appropriate time to have those voters struck off the register.

Whenever the updated registered is published, there is a 14 day time window within which corrections are allowed. On the other hand, PN lawyer Paul Borg Olivier argued that the intention by the PN was not to block or delay the general election but to have a revision of the early voting.

Olivier was assisting PN general secretary Michael Piccinino. If the updated list of ineligible voters was not communicated to the Electoral commission by the court registrar, the commission had a duty to correct the information.

The commission’s lawyer insisted that once the register was published, the information was deemed true. Thus, the commission could not touch the register, making a re-run apply to the same voters.

The PN’s lawyer said that the commission’s lawyer was adopting a restrictive interpretation of law. Chief Justice dismissed the PN request and declared that the court lacked jurisdiction to decide upon the matter. The court also revoked an injunction which it had upheld provisionally.

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