Clifton Grima | |
---|---|
Minister for Education and Sport | |
Assumed office 29 December 2021 | |
Preceded by | Justyne Caruana |
Member of the Parliament of Malta for District 10 | |
Assumed office 26 March 2022 | |
Preceded by | Multi-member constituency |
Member of the Parliament of Malta for District 9 | |
In office 11 October 2016 –26 March 2022 | |
Preceded by | Leo Brincat |
Succeeded by | Multi-member constituency |
Mayor of Msida | |
In office 2009–2013 | |
Preceded by | Alexander Sciberras |
Succeeded by | Margaret Baldacchino Cefai |
Personal details | |
Political party | Labour Party |
Alma mater | University of Malta (LL.D.) |
Clifton Grima is a Maltese lawyer and politician who has served in the Parliament of Malta since 2016. A member of the Labour Party,Grima is also the Minister for Education and Sport.
In 2010,Grima graduated from the University of Malta with a Legum Doctor degree. [1] Following this,Grima was elected as the mayor of Msida,serving as mayor from 2009 to 2013. He was later appointed by Joseph Muscat,the prime minister of Malta,to be the CEO of Mount Carmel Hospital. [2]
In the 2013 Maltese general election,Grima,a member of the Labour Party,stood as a candidate for the Parliament of Malta in District 9. Grima was the penultimate candidate to be eliminated,receiving 1,646 votes. [3] In 2016,following the resignation of District 9 incumbent Leo Brincat,Grima won the special election to succeed him in parliament. [4] He was re-elected in the 2017 Maltese general election. [5] During this term,Grima was one of several high-ranking Labour MPs who revolted against Muscat,who was embroiled in a corruption scandal. [6]
In 2017,Grima served as the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry for Education. He held this position until 2020,when he was appointed parliamentary secretary for sport. [7] [8]
On 29 December 2021,Grima was appointed Minister for Education and Sport by Prime Minister Robert Abela following the resignation of Justyne Caruana,who had resigned after an ethics scandal. [9] [10] Immediately after his appointment as minister, The Shift ,an investigative newspaper in Malta,revealed that one of Grima's closest supporters,an official for a water polo team,was suspended from his position for levying death threats against an official of the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta. [11] During his time as minister,Grima promoted inclusivity in schools and opposed a proposal for mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for children. [12] [13] Grima has also advocated for the restructuring of Malta's professional sports system,funding grassroots programs to train children in professional sports rather than to hire foreign athletes. [14]
In the 2022 Maltese general election,Grima switched his constituency to District 10 and won re-election in his new constituency. [15] [16]
The politics of Malta takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic,whereby the President of Malta is the constitutional head of state. Executive Authority is vested in the President of Malta with the general direction and control of the Government of Malta remaining with the Prime Minister of Malta who is the head of government and the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Malta which consists of the President of Malta and the unicameral House of Representatives of Malta with the Speaker presiding officer of the legislative body. Judicial power remains with the Chief Justice and the Judiciary of Malta. Since Independence,the party electoral system has been dominated by the Christian democratic Nationalist Party and the social democratic Labour Party.
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.
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.
Joseph Muscat is a Maltese politician who served as the prime minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020,and as the leader of the Labour Party from June 2008 to January 2020.
George William Vella is a Maltese politician who has served as President of Malta since 2019. A member of the Labour Party,he previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Malta and Foreign Affairs Minister from 1996 to 1998 under Prime Minister Alfred Sant. In 2013,he returned as Foreign Affairs Minister,an office he held until 2017 under Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
Leo Brincat is a Maltese politician,since 2016 member of the European Court of Auditors.
Cyrus Engerer is a Maltese Member of European Parliament representing the Labour Party. A gay rights activist,he was the leading spokesperson for the Yes campaign at the 2011 Maltese divorce referendum. In 2021 he was tasked with negotiating the European Parliaments historic resolution on the declaration of the European Union as an LGBTQ Freedom zone,in reaction to the establishment of so called "LGBT-Free zones" in Poland. Engerer later went on to write the European Parliaments resolution which condemned the laws in Hungary which effectively banned "LGBT propaganda" in the vicinity of schools. From 2014 till 2019 Engerer was the Prime Minister's special envoy to the European Union. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in November 2020. After he joined the Labour Party the Police of Malta opened an investigation against him,leading to his father's arrest,the opening of a court case against him on spreading pornography and the arrest of his mother on election day. He himself was convicted for spreading revenge porn and received a suspended two years term imprisonment. He is the partner of Partit Laburista's Member of Parliament Randolph De Battista.
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 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.
General elections were held in Malta on 26 March 2022 to elect all members of the House of Representatives.
Justyne Caruana is a Maltese lawyer,politician,former Minister for Gozo and former Minister for Education. She was appointed on 9 June 2017 in the second cabinet of Joseph Muscat and reconfirmed by new Prime Minister Robert Abela before resigning one week later on 20 January 2020 and replaced with Clint Camilleri. After 11 months,she was re-appointed to Cabinet on 23 November 2020 as the new Minister for Education by Robert Abela. She then resigned from Minister for Education on 22 December 2021.
The 2019–20 Maltese Premier League was the 105th season of the Maltese Premier League,the top-flight league football in Malta. The fixtures were announced on 2 July 2019;the season started on 23 August 2019 and was scheduled to conclude on 25 April 2020. Valletta were the defending champions,having won their 25th title the previous season.
An ongoing political and institutional crisis within the Republic of Malta follows the uncovering of alleged links between government officials and the 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi resigned following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech in connection with the murder.
The 2019–2020 Maltese protests started in Valletta and other urban centres of Malta on 20 November 2019,mainly calling for resignations after alleged political links to the assassination of journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia surfaced following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech. The protesters also targeted government corruption and the lack of action on money laundering. The protests consisted of demonstrations,marches,sit-ins,and civil disobedience and have been unprecedented in Malta's political history since its independence from the United Kingdom.
Robert Abela is a Maltese lawyer and politician who has served as Prime Minister of Malta and Leader of Labour Party since 2020. The son of former President George Abela,he was elected to Parliament in 2017. Abela was sworn in as Prime Minister following the resignation of Joseph Muscat on 13 January 2020.
Bernard Grech is a Maltese politician,lawyer,and the current leader of the Nationalist Party.
Clint Camilleri is a Maltese politician,architect and civil engineer,currently serving as Minister for Gozo in the Prime Minister Robert Abela's cabinet of 2020. Among the youngest members of cabinet,Camilleri previously served as a Parliamentary Secretary and a Minister in former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's cabinet. Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament and Minister,he was the Mayor of Qala in 2017.
Events in the year 2022 in Malta.
Clyde Caruana is a Maltese politician within the Labour Party,since November 2020 Minister for Finance and Employment.
Eve Borg Bonello is a Maltese activist and politician who grew to prominence during the 2019-2020 Maltese protests for her vocal opposition to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the corruption scandals that triggered the 2019 Malta political crisis and Muscat's eventual resignation.