Georg Sapiano
PN candidate on the 9th and 10th district
On cohabitation
“Just imagine a guy who has three kids from a first marriage which failed. The same guy then has a young son from another union with a woman he can’t marry. What happens if he dies suddenly, say on a tsunami-hit holiday, and he dies without a will. Under our laws his son and the mother of his son would have virtually no rights. This is not social justice.”
9 July 2006 – MaltaToday
On divorce
“If there is a vote in parliament on divorce and the party allows everybody to vote according to his conscience, I will vote in favour of divorce… ideally that vote would be part of a broader bill on the institution of marriage which also introduces measures to strengthen existing marriages.”
9 July 2006 – MaltaToday
On economic liberalisation
“We cannot criticise the PN for not liberalising because over the years, there was a liberalisation of various sectors. But it is true, that there are sectors like taxis, hearses, horse carriages and buses which blow black smoke in our faces which have not been opened up yet.”
9 July 2006 – MaltaToday
On political patronage:
“In a country as small as Malta it is useful that the person hiring services knows you and has faith in you but if other conditions do not apply, I don’t think you will get the job.”
9 July 2006 – MaltaToday
Anglu Farrugia
MLP candidate on the 11th and 12th district
On being ferocious
“Today he is one of the main political exponents of the Labour Party where in his ferocious and strong speeches that he delivers in the Maltese Parliament and in the Public.”
(From Anglu Farrugia’s profile on www.anglufarrugia.com)
On the 1996-1998 Labour government
“I was worried that the Labour Party was not fulfilling the aspirations of Labour Party supporters. After 10 years of Nationalist government, MLP supporters who suffered injustices were expecting relief under a Labour government.”
11 May 2003 – MaltaToday
On the MLP
“It bothers me that some people in the party can do what they please while others find it difficult to even have access to certain people. Some individuals in the party and Super One have built their own small empire and that is something I cannot accept.
11 May 2003 –MaltaToday
Farrugia’s European vision
“Europe’s strength derives from Christianity. If Christianity is diluted Europe will become weaker… By removing reference to God and Christianity the new EU Constitution paves the way for Turkey’s membership in the EU”
5 April 2005 – MaltaToday
On the abortion Constitutional amendment
“I look forward to the day that the unborn child in Malta will finally have the clear right to life written in the Constitution of Malta. Europe and the Charter of Human Rights talk of human rights, yet many countries kill unborn children in the womb.”
Quoted on Gift of Life website on Jum il-Hajja, February 2008
Martin Debono
MLP candidate on the 9th and 10th districts
On his professional career:
“I feel I have an obligation to inform potential clients that it is easier to get a permit approved if they hire another architect. Once I used to earn a lot of money, but now my career is basically destroyed.”
27 January 2008 – MaltaToday
On MEPA’s integrity
“The suspicion of lack of integrity arises when someone is given a permit for 23 storeys when the development brief mentioned 16 storeys. Those bidding for the project had 16 storeys and not 23 storeys in mind. If they knew that 23 storeys would be approved, they would have made a higher bid.”
27 January 2008 – MaltaToday
On land reclamation
“Through good and proper reclamation there will be no need to build in valleys or the countryside. What is important is that such projects will not be given over to ruthless people.”
27 January 2008 – MaltaToday
On road plans for Sliema
“The proposed design is a design for vehicles and not human beings. It will ruin the character of the Strand so that MIDI and the other new projects will flourish in Tigne’.”
5 August 2007 – MaltaToday
On his party’s silence on Bertu Mizzi’s Midi project
“I am part of the MLP. Therefore the MLP is criticising Midi.”
27 January 2007 – MaltaToday
Robert Musumeci
PN candidate on the 6th and 7th districts
On mudslinging
“Getting a message through doesn’t require any sort of negative connotations. Firstly it is morally unacceptable to resort to mudslinging. The Nationalist Party has all the ingredients to win without having to resort to this kind of campaigning.”
28 October 2007 – MaltaToday
On Austin Gatt’s style
“Austin Gatt has his own style… certainly it isn’t my style… I admire Austin Gatt on his attributes for performance, but the way I communicate is certainly different.”
28 October 2007 – MaltaToday
On being moderate
“I am a moderate politician… I have a profession, which I am very fond of. My living will never depend on my being in politics and I will serve in the political arena only if the electorate thinks that I can serve the country in my ways and methods I profess.”
28 October 2007 – MaltaToday
On divorce
“Although I think that the introduction of divorce is not the optimal solution to failing marriages, the latter is however an emerging reality, which we cannot conveniently ignore. As political parties, we should be discussing the issue of failing marriages and the way society is responding in depth.”
28 October 2007 – MaltaToday
On party financing
“The only way to ensure transparancy is that every party publishes the names of any donor irrespectively of the amount he gives.”
16 September 2007 – Illum
On MEPA reform
“Although it is statistically claimed that the majority of submitted development applications are decided on time, the lack of consistency and excessive bureaucracy within the authority’s administrative structures remain two major concerns.”
17 February 2008 – The Times
Carmel Cacopardo
AD candidate on the 3rd and 11th districts
On Lawrence Gonzi
“Whoever knows of wrongdoing and does not act is not able to lead. That is why I left the PN.”
(5 February – http://carmelcacopardo.wordpress.com)
On why he left the PN
“For those who behaved improperly all the time, an attempt is being made to hide and hush things up. However with regard to my work at MEPA, I was obstructed from continuing the work that I was doing at the Audit Office with a thousand excuses. The true reason (for this) is never mentioned: an intolerant attitude towards criticism and those who think independently was born. Those who do not tolerate string-pulling are being constantly ignored.”
20 January 2008 – Resignation letter
On sustainable development
“A proposal can make economic sense but if it is not environmentally or socially viable, it is unacceptable.”
19 November 2006 – MaltaToday
On low cost airlines
“One of the effects of low-cost on countries like France was that many British people bought property in those areas visited by low-cost airlines. The arrival of low-cost airlines could create more demand for property and thus push prices upwards... Low-cost airlines will also have a social and environmental impact. That is why I insist that tourism targets should be determined according to environmental impacts.”
19 November 2006 – MaltaToday
Philip Beattie
Azzjoni Nazzjonali candidate on the 9th and 10th districts
On liberalism
“The liberal agenda basically proclaims the freedom of all instincts, where there isn’t a right and a wrong, and that you have to be tolerant of all views and have equal rights regardless of whether they are right and wrong. People on our side of the spectrum believe there is natural law, which is inherent in our nature, and which tells us that there is a right and wrong.”
2 October 2005 – MaltaToday
On “abhorrent” gays
“A man cannot claim rights for himself as a homosexual, to go beyond those rights as a human being and claim additional rights just because he happens to be a homosexual. Because homosexuality, according to the Catholic Church, is abhorrent because it goes against natural law, of which God Himself is the author.”
2 October 2005 – MaltaToday
On the name of the Nationalist Party
“That’s a canard… the people who believe in traditional beliefs, the concept of the nation and national identity, have nobody to represent them as far as I can see.”
2 October 2005 – MaltaToday
