Updated 1227
Perici Calascione sole candidate for PN Deputy post
Alex Perici Calascione is the only candidate for the post of PN deputy leader as nominations closed today at noon. Perici Calascione, 60, is the current president of the party’s executive committee and has also served as party treasurer between 2013 and 2017. The party has reduced the number of deputy leaders from two to one following recent changes to its statute.
Man sentenced 15 years after raping daughter
A 47-year old man from Bormla has been sentenced to imprisonment for 15 years after a jury unanimously declared him guilty of having raped his own nine-year-old daughter, twice. The abuse came to light after the child had opened up to a Museum (religious doctrine) teacher at MUSEUM.
Police patrols in Sliema
Police will be patrolling the Sliema promenade from Exiles to the Strand from 5 am to midnight, the locality’s council announced. The frequent patrols will start as from Monday, and come after talks between the council and the central government. Sliema local council will be holding further talks with the Office of the Prime Minister and the home affairs ministry, to extend the patrols from midnight to 5am
Morning Briefing
Malta off the grey-list
Malta has officially been removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list, and the FATF has encouraged Malta to ‘strongly focus’ on continuing to strengthen its systems and measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing. The FATF is a global anti-money-laundering body. Malta was placed on the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring – known as the grey list – in June 2021. Marcus Pleyer formally announced on Friday the decision to remove Malta from the so-called grey list, as he also revealed that Gibralta has been added to it. In a statement, the FATF said Malta had made “significant progress” and had “strengthened the effectiveness” of its anti-money laundering regime to combat the “strategic deficiencies” the body had highlighted last year. Explaining the decision to take Malta off the list, Pleyer said the island had doubled the resources of its business registry and conducted a thorough risk assessment.
PM, PN React
Malta has been described as a “success story” during FATF meetings this week, according to PM Robert Abela. He said he agrees with those who say Malta should never have gotten into this position in the first place, and should never put itself in such a position again. Abela said that he had given clear direction for action over expert reports by Moneyval criticising Malta’s efforts to fight financial crime.
The PN this evening said that the news of Malta’s removal from the grey list ‘is positive’. “With this news comes the onus of maintaining standards, building further robust control mechanisms and heightening our collective vigilance. We cannot afford to let our guard down. Everyone, including the cabinet of ministers, is painfully aware of how government’s lax governance structure negatively impacted the country’s potential and cast a long shadow on us.”
Covid-19 Update: 260 new coronavirus cases on Friday. With 108 recoveries the number of known active cases stands at 2,316.
