Updated 1235
14,000 fail to collect voting document: Some 14,000 voters will not be voting tomorrow, after they failed to collect their voting documents by the last night’s deadline. This represents a significant increase from the 8,372 voting documents that were not collected by the close of the deadline in the 2017 general election. It must be considered that the voting population was around 13,000 people less, with a significant proportion being third country nationals. Additionally, a quarter of eligible voters chose not to cast their ballot during Thursday’s early voting session, according to the Electoral Commission. In a statement on Friday morning, the commission said that the approximate voting turnout for the session stood at 72.5%. The session was limited to those who were in hospital as of last Monday.
Men caught with significant amounts of undeclared cash: Four men carrying a total of €64,967 in undeclared cash were intercepted by Customs Malta at the MIA, the customs department said on Friday. Two Maltese passengers en-route to Turkey and Australia respectively, were found to be carrying a total of €25,717 in undeclared cash. The man travelling to Turkey was found to be carrying €11,280 in his jacket whereas the other Maltese man travelling to Australia was found to be carrying €14,437 in undeclared cash. Both men were stopped for a random currency check during screening of passengers.
Deficit narrows, debt widens: At the end of February 2022, Central Government debt stood at €8,393.9 million, a €1,227.2 million rise from 2021, the NSO said today. However, deficit figures narrowed as pandemic assistance began to be scaled back. An in-depth look at the key finance figures is available here.
Covid-19 Update: 465 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Friday, as active cases shot up to 3590, with 77 people in hospital. An 81-year-old woman also passed away overnight.
Morning Briefing
Electoral campaign comes to an end
Malta’s electoral campaign came to an end on Thursday evening with major party leaders addressing party rallies. Citizens will be heading to the poll tomorrow, with most surveys indicating a lower-than-usual turnout.
Academics concerned at removal of core subjects for JC entrance
Academics have expressed significant concern about the University of Malta’s Junior College removing the requirement of a pass in Maltese, English and Maths for entry into the college, questioning how the move would serve to improve students’ education. Up till now, students needed to pass from the three subjects. However, those applying to Junior College from October will only require one pass mark from one of the core subjects. Students will be required to obtain a pass in the other two core subjects during their time in post-secondary education, as these are nonetheless still required in order to join the University of Malta. (Times of Malta)
Rosianne Cutajar found guilty of breach of conduct
The Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly’s (PACE) committee on rules of procedure has voted that there was a serious breach of its rules of conduct by Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar, when she failed to disclose a conflict of interest in speaking out against a public inquiry into the Caruana Galizia assassination. Cutajar – who has since resigned her position as Labour MP delegate to the PACE – was accused of breaching ethics by Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt, for her close link with Yorgen Fenech when she used her seat at the Council of Europe to argue against the public inquiry. (Maltatoday)
Covid-19 Update: 415 cases were found overnight, and 131 recoveries were reported. 75 cases were in hospital, 2 of whom were in the ITU.
