AD speaks on consistency - Launches vote tracker

AD had always been consistent on issues while others balked when it came to action, AD candidate for MEP Yvonne Ebejer Arqueros said this morning.

She said this morning that on May 6, the EPP-ED group (supported by ALDE) in the European Parliament successfully postponed a vote on the Estrela report, which related to maternity and paternity leave, as well as improved protection against workplace discrimination for working mothers. The report was previously adopted by Parliament's women's rights and gender equality committee.

“For Alternattiva Demokratika the harmonisation of a respectable minimum maternity leave period throughout the EU and for Maltese and Gozitan mothers in line with recommendations by the ILO and WHO is a very important issue.

“It is a practical way to put rhetoric into practice. The Estrela report recommends 24 weeks of maternity leave. Maternity leave in Malta is 14 weeks, one of the lowest periods in the EU.

“Contrary to perceptions, an increase in the maternity leave period together with measures to help SMEs will increase and encourage women to take up employment. Our government, once again, is one of the countries in the EU opposing such a positive proposal,” she said.

Ms Ebejer Arqueros said that another important measure still on the backburner in Malta was the provision of childcare facilities.

“I hope that voters will be aware of where the political groups truly stand on family issues when they go to the polls,” she said.

AD chairman and MEP candidate Arnold Cassola said that AD’s priorities were to enhance and improve quality of life.

He presented an internet based ‘vote tracker’, which showed how MEPs and political groups voted on important issues: http://greens-efa-service.org/votetracker/.

Arnold Cassola added:

“Talk is cheap, it's votes that count. Voters can use the vote tracker to find out how MEPs voted on key issues for the Greens (economic, social and environmental policy, democracy and civil liberties among others).”

Prof. Cassola said through the tracker one could see that on limiting pollution from big industry PN MEPs wanted to exclude major polluting industries from pollution limits under EU legislation.

When it came to regulating hazardous chemicals PN MEPs supported weaker rules. PN MEPs opposed making unethical behaviour by lobbyists public and as for nuclear public funding to be only used for safety research PL MEPs had no opinion and PN MEPs did not want this.