The Rights of Minorities

Maltastar





As we get ready to kick out 2002 and sing in 2003 I think it is proper to remind of three minorities of which I form part, who are being unfairly ignored by society at large.



Equity investors on the Malta Stock Exchange For the third successive years they have suffered losses. This is not different from the experience of international equity investors. What`s different is that for many Maltese investors this is their first experience of capital losses, having been guided into such investments without much understanding of the risks involved, often exposed to such risks by over-zealous bank front office personnel. Maltese clients consider the advice of their bank as second only to the gospel and therefore took it on-board without proper appreciation of the risks involved.

`Maltacom`s monopoly imposed upon it certain social obligations to offer certain of its services at a socially discounted price.` This is causing substantial complications. Not only are people very unhappy with the losses incurred, but even if and when the market cycle turns, it will have an up-hill task as many investors who burnt their finger are eagerly awaiting to dispose of their positions as soon as the market recovers. This is keeping the market under pressure pouring cold water over any attempts of the market to warm up.



But not all losses can be explained away to market cycles. The pressure on the equity price of Maltacom, the biggest loser in terms of quoted price during 2002, reflects the uncertainty about the effect on Maltacom`s profitability of liberalisation of the fixed line telephony and international gateway over which Maltacom holds a monopoly which falls away as from 1st January 2003. Maltacom`s monopoly imposed upon it certain social obligations to offer certain of its services at a socially discounted price. Maltacom was the executor of a social contract where it made monopoly profits on its international tariffs to subsidise local telephony rates. Now that the monopoly is being removed would Maltacom still be in a position to continue subsidising socially sensitive services or will it protect its shareholders` interest and start charging commercial rates across the board through tariff re-balancing` And if Maltacom is commercially constrained to charge commercial rates across the board what is the government doing to compensate the increased costs for those that can least afford it` As an economist, I tend to favour elimination of subsidies which generally lead to waste and inefficient allocation of resources. But subsidies need to be removed in a socially responsible manner as Labour had done in the seventies when food rations, coming from the immediate post-war days, were finally removed. Similarly with BoV, the equity price is under pressure as government intentions regarding its further privatisation seem confused and confusing. It is these indecisions and the introduction of taxations on collective investment schemes that have brought so much instability to the market.



To equity holders suffering capital losses I wish to re-assure them that a new Labour government would make it a priority to breathe new confidence on the capital markets, bringing stability where there is indecision, removing taxation that scares away investment and contributing to a general economic recovery that in the end is the only truly sustainable way for the market to get back its confidence in the fortunes of locally listed companies. Yearning for the right to divorce `How can therefore this country continue to deny the right of divorce to those whose religious beliefs, or their absence, permit them such a choice` ` As a catholic country divorce is still not on the political agenda. But this does not mean that there is not a grave and growing problem out there where the number of those yearning for the right to divorce and start their life afresh can no longer be ignored, not even by politicians who fear losing votes. Malta is the only country in the civilised world that has not provided its citizens with the civil right to divorce and re-marry. Our constitution while declaring Malta as a catholic country gives the right for each individual to practice any religious beliefs without being discriminated against. How can therefore this country continue to deny the right of divorce to those whose religious beliefs, or their absence, permit them such a choice`



Why should the majority continue to impose itself on the growing and significant minority when divorce is an individual choice and not a collective one. Granted, one should not go for a Las Vegas type of easy divorce system. But for couples who consent and do not have any children and to other couples who have not lived together for five years and more, how can society continue to deny them the right to divorce` Divorce is a right to be exercised with discretion and not an obligation to go through against one`s will. Let those happily married continue to exercise their right not to divorce but let`s not continue to fool ourselves thinking that the absence of divorce is keeping families together. Rather the absence of divorce is leading to separations and couples living together without marrying or re-marrying. `Let those happily married continue to exercise their right not to divorce but let`s not continue to fool ourselves thinking that the absence of divorce is keeping families together` Illegitimate children Our laws still consider children born outside wedlock, even if acknowledged and supported by the father, as illegitimate. How can a child be illegitimate` If anything make the mother or father illegitimate but not the innocent child that has no control whether he/she is born within or outside wedlock. The court has since 1997 decided that hereditary laws related to illegitimate children are breaking the individual rights under the constitution and the courts requested the legislator to amend the civil code to remove the conflict also with international human rights alignment of our laws. Ex-President Ugo Mifsud Bionnici had taken the unprecedented step of writing to parliament to urge it to pass the necessary law to remove this anomaly. Yet another year has passed and many Maltese are still being born with an illegitimate tag to their name. Illegitimate my foot! If anyone is illegitimate round here it is the government! Happy 2003!