Good Year

Archbishop Charles Scicluna

Mgr Charles Scicluna’s outspoken nature, criticism of government policy where he feels it to be necessary, intelligent arguments and defence of the environment since he took over the Church have earned him praise and given the Church a voice. His open and all-embracing approach, while remaining loyal to the Church’s core values, has also been well welcomed.

 

Katrine Camilleri

Jesuit Refugee Service director Katrine Camilleri was named one of Europe’s top movers and shakers in the past year by influential Brussels-based newspaper Politico. Dr Camilleri was listed among EU politicians, activists, entrepreneurs and musicians “who are stirring and shaping European public life”. She won praise for urging the authorities to take their responsibilities in the migration crisis seriously. Earlier in the year the human rights lawyer was also awarded the Roland Berger Human Dignity Award.

Destiny Chuckunyere

2015 was a very special year for Destiny Chuckunyere, 12, who won the Junior Eurovision Contest held in Sofia, Bulgaria. She represented Malta with the catchy song Not My Soul, for which she had written the lyrics. The young singer, who was alone on stage, impressed the audience. Malta won a total of 185 points followed by Armenia’s 176. Chuckunyere said she hoped one day to represent Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest.

 

 

Hunters

Even though surveys conducted during the spring hunting referendum campaign consistently put the ‘No’ camp ahead, it was the ‘Yes’ camp which won the day. The strong ‘Yes’ vote in Gozo as well as the fact that both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition publicly said they would be voting in favour of spring hunting helped to save the day for the hunters. However, the majority in favour of spring hunting was a mere 2,200 votes, suggesting that a future poll could well result in this practice being banned.

Karl Izzo

It was a highly successful year for national waterpolo coach Karl Izzo after Malta qualified for the 2016 European Championships to be held in Belgrade next month. Malta ensured its first-ever participation in the continental championships after placing second in the qualifying tournament held in Malta earlier this year. Mr Izzo also led the Malta U-19 team to qualification in the inaugural European Games held in Baku last summer.

MOAS

The Migrant Offshore Aid Station, or MOAS, a Malta-based NGO, has fast become one of Europe’s most vibrant migrant NGOs, rescuing almost 12,000 migrants from the Mediterranean since September 2014. Now endorsed by some of the world’s biggest celebrities, its founders, Chris and Regina Catrambone, have been showered with awards, including Malta’s Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika.

Bad Year

Joe Cassar

Former PN health minister Joe Cassar’s resignation from Parliament in the wake of allegations that when in office he permitted works at his home to be paid for by businessman Joe Gaffarena shocked political observers. A few days earlier, when the allegations first surfaced in the media, he had resigned as Opposition spokesman for culture. His resignation spelt the end of his seven-year political career.

Giovanna Debono

Former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono’s resignation from the Nationalist Party’s parliamentary group represented an amazing fall from grace for this once powerful and popular politician. Ms Debono resigned after her husband was charged in court with fraud and misappropriation of public funds in the months leading to the last general election when Ms Debono was a Cabinet minister. She had already earlier declared that she would not be seeking re-election at the next general election.

 

 

Michael Falzon

Michael Falzon, Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, was under constant pressure from the Opposition and sections of the media to resign over his involvement in the controversial €1.65 million expropriation of a Valletta property partly owned by the Gaffarena family. He was also heavily criticised for having been given a far too generous €260,000 early retirement package by Bank of Valletta, which also gives him the right to return to the bank as long as he takes up the option by June 30, 2018.

 

 

Ian Borg

The Opposition called for the resignation of parliamentary secretary Ian Borg after he was criticised by the Ombudsman for having used “devious and deliberate methods” for permits for works on his property in Rabat. The report was passed on to the Commission Against Corruption, which endorsed the Ombudsman’s conclusions but said Dr Borg had done nothing illegal. He was given a public rebuke by Joseph Muscat, who said that if he were in his position he would have stopped the works pending the outcome of the probe. After Dr Muscat’s comment, Dr Borg halted the works.

 

The environment

It was a terrible year for the environment. The use of ODZ land (18,000 square metres) at Żonqor Point for an educational institution, the Mepa demerger and consequent weakening of environmental governance, the revisions to a number of environmental policies which led to a proliferation of petrol stations, agricultural stores, fireworks factories and kiosks, and the expected approval of two massive towers in Tigné, Sliema (38 and 40 storeys), an already overbuilt and crowded peninsula, further dented the Labour government’s poor record on the environment.

Mark Gaffarena

Mark Gaffarena became a household name associated with the government’s poor record in good governance. What could have been a good year for Mr Gaffarena – The Sunday Times of Malta revealed that the government paid him €1.65 million for half ownership of a property in Valletta he bought for a fraction of the price just weeks earlier – turned out to be an annus horribilus, thanks to the continuous scrutiny of the media, which disrupted other potential property deals.