Very little Europe in first televised debate

In the first televised political debate organised by the Broadcasting Authority, candidates from the three main parties were given an opportunity to outline their vision for the forthcoming European elections.

However while, Labour and PN candidates focused on the government’s performance over the past 14 months, the Green Party candidate Carmel Cacopardo was the only one to talk about European issues in a local context.

“Europe isn’t Brussels but we are Europe, and as a country we have a right to participate and influence decisions at all levels in the European Union,” Cacopardo said.

As he discussed the theme chosen by Alternattiva Demokratika “We are Europe,” Cacopardo noted that despite the campaign has been dominated by national issues, these have a European dimension and went on to mention a number of areas which have been influenced by EU legislation such as sewage treatment, waste management and health and safety regulations in Malta.

Acknowledging the positive effects EU membership had on Malta, Cacopardo called for greater transparency and accountability at both a European and national level and stressed the importance of the forthcoming European elections which will see Malta elect six persons “in the EU’s only elected body.”

Branding a green boomerang emblazoned with the European Green Party’s anti-austerity message, Cacopardo called on the electorate to vote for candidates who were coherent at both European and national levels.

“Politics concerns people and people should be placed at the centre of politics,” he added, while stressing the need to strengthen solidarity and sustainability at a European level.

“We do not want a Europe corporations but a Europe of people, a Europe which listens to the people’s needs not lobbies’ pressures, as is happening in Malta with hunting. Spring hunting was imposed on Malta after secret talks between the hunters’ lobby and the two big parties.”

Labour Party candidates Mario Farrugia Borg and Lino Bianco emphasised the government’s achievements in the past 14 months,  highlighting the energy, education and health sectors.

Farrugia Borg said that “government could well have rested on its laurels and blamed the previous administrations for the disastrous state the country was in, however we have rolled our sleeves and injected our positive energy in governing the country.”

He added that the “the electorate will vote for Labour candidates for the government’s achievements and because our MEPs  always defended Malta’s interests.”

PN hopeful Therese Comodini Cachia focused her interventions on health and the inferior standards found in Malta.

Describing the standards in the health sector as “amateurish” she said that despite joining the EU 10 years ago, standards in Malta were far inferior to the ones across Europe

“You can now send a message to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat by using your vote in the European elections to ensure that the highest standards are adhered to…I call on everyone to vote for candidates who are convinced Europeanists and can make a difference and improve the standards in Malta.”

Fellow PN candidate Francis Zammit Dimech hit out at Labour for having “no road map at all” in terms of job creation and urged voters to send a message to the Labour government which he said was “deceitful and dishonest.”