Muscat lists subjects for talks with the government

Labour leader Joseph Muscat said today he will write to the Prime Minister with a number of proposals for strengthening democracy which, he said, must come before any talks on parliamentary procedure.

The government has been seeking agreement with the opposition on a pairing arrangement in Parliament.

But Dr Muscat told an MLP activity in Siggiewi that the Labour parliamentary group had unanimously agreed that strengthening democracy came first.

He said the opposition was ready to hold talks with the government on transparency in party funding, and the MLP was ready to publish all its financial records.

It also wanted talks on: regulating the activities of a caretaker government before a general election; resources available to MPs, particularly the opposition; amendments to the electoral law; justice for those people whose cases were upheld by the Ombudsman or the Tribunal for the Investigation of Injustices, and a reform in the way management and editorial appointments at PBS were made so that there could be a proper balance between political parties and civil society.

Dr Muscat said the opposition also wanted to see the government cap its revenue from duties on fuel to what they were in May/June this year, even if prices continued to rise.

The Labour leader said that with the exception of the talks on the electoral law, which would take time, the opposition was prepared to open and conclude the talks by September.