Dementia patients are fit to vote says Active Ageing minister

Mar 23 2022

Following concerns raised by families, Active Ageing Minister Michael Farrugia said that psychiatrists and electoral commission officials assessed dementia patients on their capability to vote in recent weeks.

Farrugia was responding to reports by relatives that dementia residents at St Vincent de Paul Residence were taken to vote early on Saturday without families being informed.

Times of Malta was informed by the Minister who said that the vote belongs to the person and neither their relatives nor staff members can stop them from voting once they are certified as being fit.’

Once the final decision was made by the Electoral Commission and psychiatrists, the minister said the decision should be respected. ‘Having a diagnosis of dementia does not automatically mean a person is not fit to vote.

This follows journalist Peppi Azzopardi sharing a complaint on Sunday saying that, despite having dementia, hits mother was taken out of her ward in St Vincent de Paul and the family was not informed.

According to the Maltese constitution, no person is qualified to be registered as a voter if he or she is determined by a court or otherwise to be of unsound mind. The General Elections Act outlines a procedure that needs to be followed by family members or carers to cancel a voter from the electoral register.

The decision to strike a person off the register must be unanimously agreed by the Electoral Board. Despite this, little can be done to revoke a voting document on grounds of lack of mental capacity once it has been issued.

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Abela made €80,000 yearly in overtime over 3 years as PA lawyer

Mar 23 2022

Prime Minister Robert Abela was reported to have pocketed €80,000 for around 1,400 hours of overtime during his work at the Planning Authority.

The news was revealed by LovinMalta, who reported that Abela, who made €17,000 a month when working as a lawyer for the PA through direct order, requested the payment in 2017. It covered a three year period.

The PA brief was renounced by the Prime Minister’s law firm, Abela Advocates, in January last year when he was elected PM. The contract was originally assigned to Robert’s father, George, in 2001, when he was a partner with planning law expert Ian Stafrace in Abela, Stafrace and Associates. Stafrace was appointed to the PA as a chef executive under a Nationalist administration.

The tenure at the PA came under scrutiny recently when it was revealed that an ODZ villa he bought for €600,000 had been regularised by the PA’s planning commission three months prior. Reports on Wednesday showed that the €80,000 payment were for additional hours worked during May 2014 and November 2014, December 2014 and July 2015, September 2015 to July 2016, and January 2017.

A PQ by PN MP Toni Bezzina in 2014 to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat revealed that Abela Advocates was awarded €3,000 a month contract for three years, charging €55 an hour for additional work. Other reports, including Times of Malta, revealed that between 2013 and 2019, the firm was paid €1.2 million and that it increased from €7,300 monthly in 2013 to €17,110 (in 2019).

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Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri spends a day as firefighter

Mar 23 2022

The Minister for Home Affairs, National Security and Law Enforcement Byron Camilleri put on firemen boots and suit to spend a day with the safety and security personnel.

He said that it is not easy to do their job, but he decided to try it out to get to know the ins-and-outs of the sector. Camilleri, who will be contesting the 2nd and 4th districts, revealed that he even dealt with a fire along with the servicemen.

‘We of course took the necessary precautions as I am not trained like them’ said Camilleri. ‘I could appreciate how difficult of a job being a firemen is. I saw what they go through even in a controlled environment. I can only imagine what goes on in more dangerous environments.’

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‘Fenek Ministerjali’ – Minister Silvio Schembri serves up a rabbit dish

Mar 23 2022

It’s not often that we get to see a Minister in the role of a chef. But that is exactly what Economy Minister Silvio Schembri did as he showed off some of his skills and passion for cooking.

Cooking for a dinner between friends, Schembri took to the kitchen to cook some rabbit and spaghetti.

The minister opened up about how at the end of a busy week, he loves to engage in some cooking as it brings satisfaction and relaxation, especially now considering the ongoing election campaign.

Apart from earning praise for his work in government, Schembri’s friends and family dining with him were also pleasantly surprised at the Minister’s capability in cooking.

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Photo Source: Silvio Schembri FB