Labour's stand

I am writing to express my point of view as an elector who on April 12 exercised his democratic right to vote and opted for Labour's electoral manifesto. I am not writing under the pretence that I am pre-empting the policy of the party of which I am the education secretary.

One important point in this manifesto was that Malta should develop a special type of relationship with the European Union, which would be short of membership. This concept, formulated by the Malta Labour Party, is now being included in the draft treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union.

On the other hand, the Nationalist Party put forward an electoral manifesto based practically on a single proposal: European Union membership.

The Maltese electorate clearly opted for the second. The decision of the electorate must be respected and implemented.

According to the mandate given to him by the majority of the voters, Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami went to Athens on April 16 to sign the treaty enabling Malta's accession to the European Union. In practice, Dr Fenech Adami signed Malta's entry in the enlarged EU.

This treaty is now up for ratification in the Maltese House of Representatives. The government's side will obviously vote in favour of this ratification. On the other hand, a question could arise on what stand should be taken by the opposition when facing this vote.

I, for one, think that the Labour opposition should vote against.

This should not be done out of spite or simply to vote against a government proposal. Labour parliamentarians should vote against the ratification of the treaty to honour the political will of 48 per cent of the Maltese and Gozitan voters who endorsed the party's manifesto and who elected them to their seat.

In doing so, Labour would not be, in any manner, hindering Malta's accession to the European Union since there seems to be a convergence on the fact that only a simple majority is required in parliament to ratify the EU accession treaty.

By taking such a stand, Labour would be loyal to both its electors and to the democratic decision taken by the people.

The next step would be to start working in the context of Malta as a European Union member state. Labour's role is to be seeking the maximisation of the related advantages of EU membership while staying on the lookout for the negative effects of membership and work to minimise them.