Bonġu News on Tuesday 4 April 2023

Opinion: What ‘political price’?

This is Bongu News on the day after Rosianne Cutajar formally resigned from the Labour Party’s parliamentary group.

Yes, formally, as Cutajar has announced she will stay in Parliament serving “in consistency with Labour principles”. In other words: nothing will change for the Labour backbencher while retaining her salary and voting with Labour.

Yet Rosianne Cutajar felt the need to immediately remind us of the “political price” she paid by resigning from Parliamentary Secretary two years ago. What is the political price this time? No longer being expected to attend lengthy meetings of the parliamentary group?

The Labour Party has never expected Cutajar to pay the ultimate political price. In fact, Robert Abela’s ‘Kontinwità’ has prolonged her political life cycle by several years.

And that’s not usually called a political price, those are benefits.

Yesterday, Abela went as far as to claim Cutajar’s resignation “raises standards in public life”. Those standards could have been raised if Cutajar had been forced out of the party before the last general election.

Social housing: allegations of bribery

Housing Minister Roderick Galdes has asked the police to investigate allegations against members of his secretariat.

Galdes filed a police report against “defamatory allegations” which he said were posted by a fake profile on Facebook. The allegations include, among others, preferential treatment in the allocation of social housing.

Another commenter announced that they would go to police and that they have evidence at hand to back their claims.

Fearne to head World Health Assembly

Health Minister Chris Fearne has been nominated as president of the World Health Assembly organised by the WHO. In his one-year term Fearne will be heading international meetings for health sector leaders from 194 WHO member states.

He will also chair WHO’s annual meeting, where members set priorities and policies for the following year.