News | Sunday, 19 April 2009

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‘Maroni playing to racist voters’

Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Arnold Cassola yesterday referred to the row between the Maltese and Italian governments on the rescue of 159 migrants at sea, calling the Italian minister of the interior “a tough guy” trying to gain party votes.
“Roberto Maroni comes from the populist right-wing Lega Nord party, well know for its xenophobic and racist attitudes even towards Italians not coming from the North. Italy is in the midst of an election campaign and Maroni is playing the usual tough guy in order to gain consensus among the Lega voters in the North of Italy. Maroni knows the rule of international law binds ship captains to take any migrants to the nearest safe haven, which in this case is Lampedusa. No discussion about this,” Cassola said.
At a press conference yesterday in Valletta, Cassola said the government should not give in to the bullying attitude of Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi and Maroni.
Cassola was accompanied by fellow candidate Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros.
“The search and rescue area at sea that Malta has to control is disproportionate to Malta’s means and resources. Therefore, unless provided with ships, funds, human resources and all other adequate resources by the European Union to be able to carry out the work of saving lives effectively at sea, Malta will find it difficult to honour its commitments unless it gives up a substantial part of the search and rescue area at sea.”
Turning to family policy, Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros emphasised the need to help families cope with their responsibilities, listing affordable childcare facilities, maternity and parental leave, and measures that helped achieve a healthy work-life balance.
The candidate added that certain developments going unchecked were very worrying, mentioning the proliferation of gambling shops all over the country. She called on government to implement clear rules and regulations on the shops and protect vulnerable people from gambling away their savings literally on their own doorstep.
“The fact that gambling shops have opened in such large numbers is not a good sign at all,” she said.
Cassola also touched on the alleged fraud in the VAT Department. “It is very worrying that the alleged fraud went undetected, and would probably not have surfaced had somebody not spoken up. It’s a slap in the face to all those who pay their taxes on time, those business people who pay VAT on sale and before they are even paid by their clients, and all those employees who are struggling to make ends meets.
“We hope the details about this alleged fraud come to light – taxpayers have the right to know who and how they and the State were being defrauded. We also hope this case serves for more effective internal audit systems at the VAT Department.”

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