Claudio Grech

Last updated

Claudio Grech (born 2 August 1974) is a Maltese politician with the Nationalist Party.

Biography

Grech's political career began within the private secretariat of former PN Minister Austin Gatt. [1] He was often referred to as Gatt's right-hand man, [2] [3] and Gatt later testified that Grech was also in charge of his campaign in the run-up to the 2008 general elections, although Grech refuted this claim. [4]

Grech was appointed CEO of SmartCity Malta in 2008; [5] he resigned in 2009. [6] He was later appointed Chairman of Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) and resigned in 2011 in the wake of allegations by the Labour opposition that his position granted him access to private citizens' data that was incompatible with his role within the Nationalist Party. [7] These claims led to an investigation by the Data Protection Commissioner, which found that Grech had no access to citizens' personal information. [8] Grech also served as CEO for Polidano Brothers, [9] a company owned by construction magnate Charles Polidano. [10]

Grech was first elected to the Maltese Parliament at the 2013 elections and again in 2017. [11] During his parliamentary career, he has served as the shadow minister for health, the family and the economy, and has come to be seen as the party's chief ideologue. [12] In 2021 he was appointed PN spokesperson for political renewal, research and development, and given the responsibility for drafting the party's electoral manifesto. [13]

Grech is considered a moderate voice within the Nationalist Party and has frequently been tipped as a potential leader for the party. [14] Grech is also known to hold socially conservative views and is believed to have been heavily involved in the Nationalist Party's campaign against the introduction of divorce at the 2011 referendum. [15] [16] He is also known to hold anti-abortion views, having proposed amendments to the Child Protection Act which would include the foetus in the legal definition of a minor. [17] Grech's private Foundation has supported the Life Network Malta Foundation, [18] an anti-abortion organisation based in Malta.

Grech is believed to be Malta's wealthiest MP, with an analysis of his asset declarations finding that he held a net position of €841,954 in 2021. [19]

Grech, together with his wife, is the founder of the Save A Life Foundation, a voluntary organisation carrying out community work with children and youths. Grech is known to donate his entire parliamentary income to the Foundation. [20]

Related Research Articles

Nationalist Party (Malta) Political party in Malta

The Nationalist Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party.

Labour Party (Malta) Political party in Malta

The Labour Party, formerly known as the Malta Labour Party, is one of the two major political parties in Malta, along with the Nationalist Party. It sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum.

Lawrence Gonzi Maltese politician

Lawrence Gonzi, is a Maltese politician, retired Nationalist politician and lawyer, who served for twenty-five years in various critical roles in Maltese politics. Gonzi was Prime Minister of Malta from 2004 to 2013, and leader of the Nationalist Party. He also served as speaker of the House from 1988 to 1996, and Minister of Social Policy from 1998 to 2004, as well as Deputy Prime Minister from 1999 to 2004. He served in practically all positions in Parliament, being also Leader of the House, an MP and Leader of the Opposition.

Simon Busuttil Maltese politician

Simon Busuttil is the Secretary General of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. Formerly, he was Leader of the Opposition. and Leader of the Nationalist Party in Malta and a Member of the European Parliament for Malta.

Alex Perici Calascione

Alex Perici Calascione is a Maltese politician and lawyer, President of the Executive Committee of the Nationalist Party.

Same-sex marriage in Malta has been legal since 1 September 2017, following the passage of legislation in the Parliament on 12 July 2017. The bill was signed into law by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca on 1 August 2017. On 25 August 2017, the Minister for Equality, Helena Dalli, issued a legal notice to commence the law on 1 September 2017.

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando Maltese politician (born 1963)

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is a Maltese former Member of Parliament, and now the executive chairman of the Malta Council for Science and Technology.

2017 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta on Saturday, 3 June 2017 to elect all members of the House of Representatives.. The elections were contested by the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the Nationalist Party, led by opposition leader Simon Busuttil, and four other parties, making it the elections with most parties participating since 1962.

Franco Debono is a Maltese criminal trial lawyer and former Nationalist member of Parliament.

Chris Fearne Maltese physician and politician

Christopher Fearne is a Maltese physician and politician. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Health in April 2014 and Minister for Health since April 2016. In July 2017, the Labour Party elected him as Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs, thus assuming the role of Deputy Prime Minister of Malta and Leader of the House.

Jason Azzopardi Maltese politician

Jason Azzopardi is a Maltese politician and lawyer. He graduated as Doctor of Laws with a master's degree in financial services from the University of Malta in 1996 and that year he started practicing as a private criminal lawyer in the courts of Malta.

The Democratic Party was a centrist to centre-left political party in Malta. It was founded in 2016 after a split from the Labour Party. It elected Malta's first two third party MPs for the first time since the country's Independence. In August 2020 the party announced an agreement to merge with the green Democratic Alternative party to form a new party called AD+PD. The merger was conducted on 17 October 2020.

2022 Maltese general election Election in Malta

General elections were held in Malta on 26 March 2022 to elect all members of the House of Representatives.

Adrian Delia Maltese politician and lawyer

Adrian Delia, is a Maltese politician, and lawyer by profession. He is the former leader of the Nationalist Party from September 2017 till October 2020.

2019 European Parliament election in Malta 2019 election of members of the European parliament for Malta

The 2019 European Parliament election was held in Malta on 25 May 2019. 8 different political parties took part in the election, of which, only 2 won seats in the European Parliament; the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party, with 4 and 2 seats respectively.

Malta–Gozo Tunnel Planned undersea road tunnel

The Malta–Gozo Tunnel is a planned undersea tunnel between the islands of Malta and Gozo, both part of the Republic of Malta. The tunnel would replace the Gozo Channel Line, the current inter-island ferry service, between Ċirkewwa in Malta and Mġarr in Gozo.

Bernard Grech Maltese politician and lawyer

Bernard Grech is a Maltese politician, lawyer, and the current leader of the Nationalist Party.

Karol Aquilina is a Maltese politician and lawyer currently serving as a Member of Parliament.

Clyde Caruana is a Maltese politician within the Labour Party, since November 2020 Minister for Finance and Employment.

Joe Giglio is a Maltese lawyer and politician who has served in the Parliament of Malta since 2022, representing District 10 as a member of the Nationalist Party. Giglio is the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and is a Nationalist Party spokesman. Giglio was briefly considered for leadership of the Nationalist Party against incumbent leader Bernard Grech in April 2022.

References

  1. ↑ "Opposition MP Claudio Grech awarded €4,000 in libel damages". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  2. ↑ Barry, Duncant (7 October 2015). "Austin Gatt's ex right-hand man tells PAC that he only met rogue oil trader George Farrugia once". The Malta Independent. Archived from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "I am an action man | Claudio Grech". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  4. ↑ "Claudio Grech denies being in charge of Austin Gatt's campaign". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  5. ↑ "SmartCity board ratifies Claudio Grech's appointment at CEO". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  6. ↑ "SmartCity Malta Announces resignation of Claudio Grech". 29 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2022-01-16. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "MITA chairman Claudio Grech resigns". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  8. ↑ "No privacy breach by MITA chairman, says commissioner". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  9. ↑ "Hazardous waste used as building material without necessary licence". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  10. ↑ "Charles Polidano, Iċ-Ċaqnu, interrogated for bodily harm, revenge porn claims". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  11. ↑ "Hon. Claudio Grech MP". Parliament of Malta. 2017-05-17. Archived from the original on 2022-01-16. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  12. ↑ "Claudio Grech, PN ideologue-in-chief, wants to bring common-sense politics back". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  13. ↑ "Updated | Bernard Grech caves in, most PN MPs hang on to shadow portfolios". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  14. ↑ "Claudio Grech, PN ideologue-in-chief, wants to bring common-sense politics back". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  15. ↑ "MITA chairman Claudio Grech resigns". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  16. ↑ "IT agency head denies any election ambitions". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  17. ↑ Watson, Gordon (2019-06-03). "PN MP asks for more protection of the unborn". Newsbook. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  18. ↑ "Nationalist MP's foundation finances social media upgrade for pro-life organisation". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  19. ↑ Bonnici, Julian (2021-11-21). "MPs Rich List Revealed: PN's Claudio Grech Is Malta's Wealthiest Lawmaker". Lovin Malta. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  20. ↑ "MP Claudio Grech uses parliamentary income to finance community projects". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.