Labour propose Cabinet rank for MCESD chairman

Labour proposed yesterday that the chairman of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development should be given the rank of a minister, allowing him to sit on Cabinet meetings connected to the council's business.

Speaking at a meeting with constituted bodies' representatives, MLP leader Alfred Sant said Labour would not need to reinvent the wheel when it came to social dialogue but would insist that the MCESD would have more power and resources.

"The position of the council's chairman can be strengthened, for instance, through giving the person chosen... the rank of a Cabinet minister," he said.

The proposal is not included in the MLP's socio-economic policy document, which forms part of the party's 648-page Plan For A New Beginning.

Speaking to The Times, party general secretary Jason Micallef explained that when speaking of the "rank of a Cabinet minister" Dr Sant meant that the MCESD chairman would be given the right to attend Cabinet meetings when these are connected to the council's business.

"The person would be a technocrat who will have the right to attend such meetings. So far, so to speak, only Richard Cachia Caruana has been granted such a right. We believe this will give the MCESD more dynamism," Mr Micallef said.

Mr Cachia Caruana is Malta's Permanent Representative in Brussels.

Asked about the omission of the proposal from Labour's policy documents, Mr Micallef said he saw nothing strange in it. Indeed, he added, the party planned to make more proposals in the months to come before the general election.

"It's a new proposal," he said, "The policy document will be the foundation for our proposals in the months to come and also for our manifesto."