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		<title>timesofmalta.com</title> 
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			<title>timesofmalta.com</title>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
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			<title><![CDATA[Why a new Constitution]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Why-a-new-Constitution.471000</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The commentary on the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct (judiciarymalta.gov.mt under Code of Ethics) quotes the “forbidden zones upon which authority may not trespass” for there to be “the enjoyment of individual liberty”.
This is the essence of constitutional justice, a most important phenomenon in the post-World-War-II evolution of western states, which allows certain tribunals, usually Constitutional Courts, to ensure that laws (and public authority acts) conform not only to the law but to the lex superior - the Constitution.

It is an age-old notion.
In Ancient Greece, psephisma (regulations) could not contravene the nomos (‘constitutional law’). Laws of the Holy Roman Empire in 1180AD point at constitutional justice.
In pre-Glorious Revolution (1688) England, Lord Coke proclaimed the nullity of laws repugnant to ‘common law and reason’. In pre-Revolutionary France too, the Parlements ensured that laws and ordonnances conformedto the (unwritten) lois fondamentales du royaume.
But France grew weary of the abuses of the Parlements and the 1789 Revolution proclaimed the ideal of a rigid separation of powers, whereby the judiciary was forbidden from intervening in the...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mark Sammut]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Why-a-new-Constitution.471000</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Morally questionable]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/Morally-questionable.471136</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The arbitrary removal of the Malta Communications Authority chairman Antonio Ghio, who also happened to be Malta’s digital champion, is unacceptable. It is legally unsound and morally questionable.
Through my first parliamentary question in the European Parliament, I formally asked the European Commission to look into the matter and clarify exactly how far this has breached EU law.

Allow me to explain further. The Malta Communications Authority is not simply another Government department. As Malta’s national regulator for the communications sector it falls under the remit of the EU Telecoms Framework Directive 2002/21/EC as amended by Directive 2009/140/EC. In other words, the Government cannot fire people at will without one of a very limited number of legally justified reasons.
A number of people have reacted with a shrug arguing that we should give the Government a chance. Idisagree.
The reason why the MCA cannot be treated as just another government department is clear. As a regulator, the MCA is responsible for an entire sector. Its independence is laid down in EU law. Specifically the EU Telecoms Framework Directive lays down that: “The independence of the national...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Roberta Metsola]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/Morally-questionable.471136</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Comparisons are shameful]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Comparisons-are-shameful.471001</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The Reuters report underlining that Malta “is unlikely to follow Cyprus into crisis” should be welcomed by all Maltese citizens. It does justice to our healthy economy and to the robust bank regulatory framework. Moreover, it should be considered to be a great relief as the government and its agencies toil further to attract the much-needed new foreign direct investment towards Malta.
While the country continues to widen its financial services horizons, Cyprus is struggling to retain its financial sector! Analysts blame Cyprus’s dysfunctional state system, human error and the 2011 ‘haircut’ as being the root causes of such a struggle.
Malta and Cyprus have similar banking sector sizes, roughly eight times their respective GDP. Just to put things into perspective, Luxembourg has a banking sector which is 20 times its GDP. Such a statistic does not, however, preclude Malta and Luxembourg from any future financial shocks.

So where did Cyprus go wrong?
Analysts agree that the turning point for the Cypriot bank collapse was the so-called ‘haircut’ imposed in 2011 on Greek bonds, with the objective of making theGreek debt more manageable.
Banks in Cyprus, especially the two collapsing...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ivan Grixti]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Comparisons-are-shameful.471001</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[The cost of partisanship]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/The-cost-of-partisanship.471137</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The dust that was raised over the electoral arena has now settled and the new team led by Joseph Muscat had sufficient time to grip the administrative ropes. Having completed their stocktaking for the year 2013, Cabinet ministers are peering into the future. Our parliamentary system will be put to the test and the electorate will be taking the measure of the maturity of our political class.
As an independent State, Malta has assumed responsibility for its own survival in competition with other countries. It has to live on its own earnings, in the full knowledge that no one owes it a living.
All of this imposes its imperatives. Increasingly and systematically, all the social partners in these islands must come round to realise the necessity of a change in their psychological outlook, and of pulling the same rope, in order to upgrade their administrative and managerial system, their economic infrastructure and their productive resources.
Changing the psychological outlook is a slow process. Considering that, on attaining independence, Malta’s challenge was to switch from a fortress to a market economy, our initial overall performance deserves a fair pass mark. Malta registered...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[J.G. Vassallo]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/The-cost-of-partisanship.471137</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[A matter of human dignity]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/A-matter-of-human-dignity.471002</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								Hatred, violence, suppression and denial of basic human rights are poisonous substances that can destroy the peace and tranquillity of an entire society. Moreover, they attack human values, so much so that people become so very cruel and hard-hearted that they even fail to understand the basics of what it means being a human.
The situation in Syria is worsening every day. Thousands people have been slain and thousands have been injured.
The tyrannical rulers have no compassion for their citizens and, instead, they are mercilessly killing their own people and forcing others to leave the country in a desperate attempt to save their lives.

The rebels are armed as they stand up to their rulers, fighting for their rights and freedom.
These are very cruel acts and finding a solution to save the Syrian nation, now on the brink of disaster, is crucial.
An incident that took place recently must have surely disturbed every sane person around the world. A video on the internet featured a rebel leader tearing open the chest of a dead Syrian soldier, cutting out his heart and biting it, shouting Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest). Not even a trace of decency and this in the name of God the...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Laiq Ahmed Atif]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/A-matter-of-human-dignity.471002</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Rogues and pariahs of this world]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Rogues-and-pariahs-of-this-world.471003</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								A number of states in the international system are diplomatically isolated because of their political system or political leaders. Such states often defy international law and diplomatic convention.
Analysts usually refer to such entities as ‘pariah’ or ‘rogue’ states. Although there is a distinction between the two, these terms are often used interchangeably.

Rogues states have a political leadership that is perceived to be irrational, corrupt or troublesome. Pariah states are nations whose legitimacy, ideology and political system are questioned by the international community. These states often have a weak rule of law, thus eroding the democratic process, independent audit institutions and public service delivery. An arbitrary and unjust execution of governance often leads to the establishment of authoritarian regimes.
Citizens are the first to be adversely affected. Stories emerging following the downfall of a regime often reveal extensive human rights abuses and unmask the sheer brutality of the ruling elite. This is often followed by a period of instability and a long path to recovery.
Dictatorships often leave an indelible mark on the national psyche. Such situations are...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[André DeBattista]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130524/opinion/Rogues-and-pariahs-of-this-world.471003</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Improving access to finance]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/Improving-access-to-finance.471133</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								Malta has recently been lauded by the International Monetary Fund for its strong economic model. This success would not have been possible without the entrepreneurial perseverance demonstrated over the years by the business community.
However, more needs to be done to maintain and improve the good work achieved so far.
Our economic growth relies on the local business community’s propensity to invest and expand its commercial endeavours.
Yet local SMEs often struggle to find adequate means of financing during their life cycle.

Highlighting this fact is the MBB’s most recent study on ‘Market Gaps in Access to Finance’ in Malta, which shows that 30 per cent of SMEs find problems in raising credit to finance their development. The study demonstrates how the only feasible option for financing in Malta is the use of ‘traditional’ bank loans and overdrafts.
A total of 72 per cent of SMEs in the start-up phase have been forced to rely on these lending products, while the other 28 per cent raise capital primarily through trade credits and family funding.
Such lending products do not always provide the best solution for enterprises. This is because companies would be required to put up...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[George Vella]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/Improving-access-to-finance.471133</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Matters monetary mania]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/Matters-monetary-mania.471134</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								The news is dominated, as I write, by the barbaric murder in London. Linked by its perpetrators to British involvement in Afghanistan and other parts of the Muslim world, condemned by non-insane Muslim leaders, the brutal act gave an excuse to mindless Rightist xenophobes to start rattling their own sabres.
The English Defence League wrapped itself in the flag and grinned inanely all the way to the barricades, though, thankfully, their numbers seemed to be restricted to a few hundred oafs whose fervour to stand up for their country doesn’t seem to extend to showing their faces, in many of their cases.

Clearly, the brutish murder is condemnable and contemptible. Carried out in the name of religion, it simply served to continue to blacken the name of that religion, and by effect all other religions, and to swell the ranks of bigotry on all sides, as did the various reactions to the news that had to be pumped out to satisfy the appetite of the beast, rolling 24/7 news.
The main news before the thuggishness in London was different, though, to an extent, not less marked by mindlessness and posturing. Google, whose corporate motto is Do No Evil, and Starbucks, whose watchword seems to...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[I. M. Beck]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/Matters-monetary-mania.471134</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[No holidays for Nationalists]]></title>
			<link>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/No-holidays-for-Nationalists.471135</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
								Today, Nationalist Party councillors are once again summoned to cast their votes in four elections. The two deputy leaders, the president of the general council and the 13 members of the executive have to be elected.
This is indeed an important day for the party.
On his election as party leader, Simon Busuttil immediately declared his intention of having a leadership team rather than a sole leader to head the party. In line with his promise, the party leader wasted no time to push forward the idea of having two deputy leaders instead of the usual one.

There is a lot of work to be done. The road is not smooth and the party needs all hands on deck.
Today’s elections could therefore be regarded as the second part of the renewal process that the PN is going through. In a week’s time the new secretary general and the remaining administrative vacancies will be filled by another set of elections within the executive committee. So, by the first week of June the party’s new administration will be in place.
Then what, one may ask. What should the new leadership team focus on first?
There are a number of matters that should be addressed without delay. The precarious financial situation is...				]]></description>
			<pubDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200</pubDate>
						<dc:creator><![CDATA[Hermann Schiavone]]></dc:creator>
						<guid>http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130525/opinion/No-holidays-for-Nationalists.471135</guid>
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