Mifsud Bonnici urges Labour MPs to abstain

Former Labour Party leader Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici yesterday said that had he been in government he would have asked the Opposition to abstain from voting on the EU Constitution in Parliament so that the Maltese Constitution would remain supreme.

Speaking at a press conference at the Campaign for National Independence headquarters in Mosta, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that although CNi was against the EU Constitution as proposed, he was not advocating that Labour MPs vote against, only that they abstain.

"This is not a hard-line position. The EU Constitution will still be endorsed as Parliament will adopt it. But because it would be adopted with a simple majority, not a two-thirds majority, the Maltese Constitution would remain supreme," Dr Mifsud Bonnici reasoned.

He explained that Article 6 of the EU Constitution stated that the European Constitution prevailed over the local one. But unless it was approved by a two-thirds majority, whenever an EU law was in conflict with the local Constitution the local courts would be able to argue that Malta's Constitution should prevail.

"This is what we are trying to safeguard. No more, no less," Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.

The Labour Party's parliamentary group has decided to vote in favour of the European Constitution in a decision based on the motion approved by the party's general conference in 2003, when the party had accepted the people's decision to become an EU member.

The former MLP leader yesterday stressed that in spite of what was being projected, it was party delegates who would determine the party's stand.

And the decision by the Labour MPs went against decisions taken by two MLP general conferences that had said the party would work to obtain a better package, even from the Opposition, he maintained.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said it was rather absurd for Labour MPs to declare they would be voting in favour of the EU Constitution, as it contained Malta's accession treaty which they had voted against only two years ago.

The formal declarations that the MLP leadership was saying it would make meant nothing in reality as these would not form part of the EU Constitution and would not be recognised by anyone. Dr Mifsud Bonnici said Malta was not the only country where there was opposition to the EU Constitution and there was a debate with a "for" and "against" campaign in many European countries.

He said he was attending the meetings that the party was holding for delegates and was allowed to speak and explain his position. However, on Friday there had been "some hostility" against him by some delegates.