Details on a reform of the Malta Environment Planning Authority (MEPA) will be announced in the coming weeks, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told Parliament tonight.

He said the government was also working on rent laws reform and would shortly launch a public consultation on reform of local councils.

Dr Gonzi was concluding a six-sitting debate on an address in reply to the address by the Prime Minister at the state opening of Parliament.

At the beginning of his 30-minute speech he expressed his regret that the opposition had refused pairing in Parliament, saying that while the opposition was calling for mutual respect, this legislature was starting with Malta not being represented at a meeting of the 5+5 group because of the opposition’s decision.

He insisted that in 1996 the Nationalist Party had granted pairing to the Labour government, and not as many had claimed.

Dr Gonzi said that pairing arrangement was only withdrawn when, during a debate on an opposition motion, then leader of the opposition Eddie Fenech Adami was sick and had to stay away on doctor’s orders. The Labour government had insisted that he had to be present and the Speaker, Myriam Spteri Debono, subsequently ruled that if he did not attend, the motion would lapse. Dr Fenech Adami therefore came to Parliament, at risk to his health, and that evening pairing was withdrawn.

Dr Gonzi said both sides should respect each other, but they also had to respect each other’s roles. The government was there because the people had voted for it, and it was the one which had to take decisions.

Dr Gonzi hit out at Alfred Sant’s speech on Monday week and said this was yet another case of mistaken political and economic analyses on his part, something which was characteristic of his 16 years at the helm of the MLP. This, was, after all, the opposition leader who had been against Malta adopting the euro, which would have meant that Malta would had suffered more from the impact of rising oil prices. Dr Sant had also wanted to halve the surcharge. Yet the situation was such that, Dr Gonzi said, he had been informed that in just one day, the futures oil price had risen by $9 to $140 per barrel.

Dr Gonzi said that throughout the electoral campaign he had warned that there were storms on the horizon, heading for Malta and the other countries, which was why the people had to make the right choices.

The Prime Minister said the government would do its best to keep all electoral promises, including the tax cuts, even in the current scenario.

Dr Gonzi said that in the coming weeks details would be announced of a reform of Mepa. A public debate would be launched ahead of a reform of local councils and rent reform would be launched.

Other areas which the government was working on included a special investigator on corruption and state funding of political parties.

The address in reply was approved after a division, with 35 votes in favour and 34 against.