Forum constrained to meet outside MCESD

Chris Attard, Vice President of Forum, said that the 11-union confederation felt they can contribute to being part of the rest of the unions and were "highly disappointed at having to address the press outside the seminar where the MCESD is meeting as we do not form part of it".

The MCESD met this morning at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta to discuss the political crisis in Malta as well as the eurocrisis leading up to an EU summit to be held on 1 March, which will also tackle measures the government has to take. However, as Forum are not members of the MCESD they were not invited to join the seminar and share their ideas.

The main focus of the EU emergency meeting will be for the governments of member states to tackle austerity measures. The aim of such summits originally was to focus on growth and unemployment, however the result falls far short of expectations.

Forum president, John Bencini, emphasised the necessity of the government to come to a decision and "remove the uncertainty and instability that is being created because the people are not yet sure if an election is to be held or not".

Bencini emphasised on this issue following feedback from what the man in the street is currently concerned about and is discussing, and candidates sending their flyers to homes didn't help the situation either, leading one to think that an election is looming.

Bencini called on the government to have the courage and responsibility to take a decision and end this feeling of uncertainty which is affecting investment.

On Moody's rating downgrade, Bencini said that when Moody's sends negative feedback on Malta, Moody's is suddenly not credible or is labelled as unfair, but on the other hand, when Moody's sends positive feedback on Malta, it suddenly becomes credible again.

"Can the government decide on Moody's credibility once and for all?"

Bencini also urged the government to take into consideration the people who are unemployed and living on the brink of poverty for once rather than to keep emphasising on fiscal discipline year in, year out.

Besides Malta, Bencini was also referring to certain EU countries where youth unemployment is very high and many people are on the brink of poverty and social exclusion.

Bencini said that Forum is disappointed at the lack of acknowledgement of the application to join MCESD which was originally put forward in 2004. He said that Forum "has a lot to contribute and that it was the government that was losing out."

"We will keep fighting for our seat in the MCESD," Bencini told the press present outside MCC.