Tag: rule of law
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Maduro, Gaza and Black & White Politics
Public debate is losing its ability to handle complexity. Arguments are increasingly forced into tribal binaries: for or against, pure or condemned. The invasion of Venezuela, the Gaza tragedy, and the EU dispute over using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine all reveal the same reflex. It is now difficult to say two true things at…
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GRECO, Galdes and Non-Regression
Malta’s latest GRECO compliance report again highlights systemic failures in three core areas: integrity standards for persons holding top executive functions, an effective and transparent asset-declaration regime, and the absence of a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy. GRECO’s conclusion is blunt: Malta remains in a state of insufficient compliance, with several recommendations untouched and others only partially…
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Cultural Heritage and Tradition in the Constitutional Orders of Italy and Malta
Across Europe, the protection of cultural traditions and pastimes sits at the crossroads between constitutional identity and legislative policy. While all Member States acknowledge culture as a public good, few have given it explicit constitutional status. Italy stands out as a state where culture is embedded in the constitutional text as a foundational value. Malta,…
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Alex Borg’s PN: The Party as an End in Itself?
The first days of Alex Borg’s leadership of the Partit Nazzjonalista leave me with more questions than answers. He has stepped into a role that carries the weight of history—but also of failure, stagnation, and disillusionment. The PN isn’t just in opposition; it’s in crisis. And yet, if you listened only to Borg’s early speeches,…
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This Is the Record: Malta’s Institutions Are Being Hollowed Out
Let us begin with a truth that bears repeating: democracy does not die in one fell swoop, but by a series of quiet manipulations, each too technical to stir mass indignation, each cloaked in the language of efficiency, reform, or sovereignty. Malta is not facing an immediate coup. But what it is experiencing is something…
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Alarum! Inflation!
Households will experience the biggest fall in their living standards since records began as they face soaring inflation, tax increases and rising energy bills. In a bleak assessment of the year ahead, the Bank of England warned people that take-home pay would fall by five times the amount it did during the financial crisis of 2008. It…