Updated 1715 – Afternoon Portal Review
The Times of Malta reports that the motorist who killed pedestrian Pelin Kaya before crashing into a KFC outlet in Gzira last January had threatened to track down the policemen who arrested him, a court heard on Monday.
Maltatoday reveals that former Serbian politician and 2015 OSCE anti-corruption award winner Miroslava Milenovich ordered to testify in a constitutional case aimed at annulling the magisterial inquiry into money laundering at Allied Newspapers.
Newsbook says that Pieter Omtzigt, who served as a rapporteur on the case of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, is of the opinion that Government MP Rosianne Cutajar’s behaviour at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe should be reassessed by Maltese Parliament in view of the newly published WhatsApp exchange between the MP and then person of interest in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation Yorgen Fenech.
The Malta Independent reports that Repubblika has asked the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life to investigate allegations regarding Lands Minister Silvio Schembri and PL MP Rosianne Cutajar. In separate letters to new Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi, Repubblika president Robert Aquilina cited media stories relating to both Schembri and Cutajar, saying that the two MPs had breached ethics in their behaviour.
Updated 1230
Police not trusted in hospitals investigation – survey
Less than one in five Maltese citizens trust the police probe into the ‘fraudulent’ hospitals agreement. On the other hand, 45% say they have little or no confidence in the investigation. Although respondents are split among party lines, The Times of Malta survey shows that almost as many PL voters say they don’t trust the investigation as those who say they do. Young people are among the most distrustful of the police investigations.
Nurses continue strike action
Nurses hve continued with their industrial actions across all hospitals, with Union leaders claiming that government sources told them there is no money for them in the aftermath of the Steward hospitals concession fiasco. The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses President Paul Pace said nurses and patients were the victims of the situation. Pace also said that the package proposed by the union would cost around €75 million and not the €120 million government has intimated. (Maltatoday)
Malta’s consul to Latvia removed after reports of large-scale fraud
Malta’s honorary consul to Latvia was removed after it became known that Jānis Zelmenis had been accused of committing large-scale fraud. Zelmenis was appointed honorary consul for Malta in Latvia in 2006 and was only removed earlier this month after he was criminally charged. The former honorary consul was allegedly part of a group of people accused of falsifying documents to fraudulently sell shares worth almost €18 million from a Latvian-registered New Zealand company. (Newsbook)
Morning Briefing
Labour loses trust among voters but PN makes little headway
Voters appear to be expressing their anger in the aftermath of the hospitals crisis, which has caused Labour’s popularity to plunge to its lowest level in years. Nevertheless, a Times of Malta poll found that the PN has not made any progress because the majority of Labour’s lost votes have gone to independents or abstentions. The difference between the two parties is estimated to stand at 23,000 votes or 8.7%. While the PN did not appear to make considerable ground, the share of people who do not intend to vote has ballooned to 27%, almost triple the 10% who failed to vote in the election. (Times of Malta)
Abela targets sceptic Labourites in political address
The political surveys appeared to be on PM Robert Abela’s mind on Sunday as he focused his speech to supporters about the importance of humility and reminisced about past successes. “Sceptic Labourites, I am coming for you… Together we build on what has already been done, ” Abela said, addressing a crowd of Labour supporters gathered at the party headquarters in Ħamrun. Following a rundown of the reforms, legislations, and developments that featured in the first full year of his legislature, the Prime Minister promised the crowd that Labour’s aims for the remainder of the legislature, as indicated in the PL’s manifesto, would be upheld. (Maltatoday)
PN leader accuses PM of defending powerful people
PN leader Bernard Grech said the Government has forgotten the smaller element and is defending the powerful ones.
Speaking at a political activity in Gozo, Dr Grech said Gozitans are having to cross over to Malta for health services, whilst pointing out that Vitals and Steward have not invested one single euro in the Gozo General Hospital, despite being given, he added, some 400 million euro for the running of the three hospitals. The Nationalist Leader insisted that the country deserves better in the health, infrastructure and justice sectors. (TVM)
French man loses life in jet ski incident
A French man lost his life in a jetski accident in Gozo on Sunday, the police said. The accident took place in Hondoq ir-Rummien, limits of Qala, at 1.30pm. The man, aged 27, was on a jet ski with a French woman, aged 25. (The Malta Independent)
