MLP sidelines pairing issue, wants talks on stronger democracy

The Labour Parliamentary Group has decided that discussion on parliamentary procedures is not as important as having discussions on other issues required to strengthen democracy in the country, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

As a result of this decision, Dr Muscat said, he will be writing to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi proposing to start talks on these other issues before tackling the procedures which need to be adopted by Parliament, particularly those related to pairing. The Labour Party is prepared to open these talks now and conclude them by September.

In May, the new Nationalist government, enjoying a mere one-seat majority, had proposed linking a pairing agreement with the appointment of an opposition MP as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Without a pairing agreement - under which opposition MPs paired to government MPs do not vote when the latter are away on official business - Parliament's work could be greatly hindered.

However, the opposition had rejected the proposal and the Speaker's post is now occupied by former Education Minister Louis Galea. Labour's current position is that it will consider pairing on a "case by case" basis, granting it only when it feels the foreign meetings government MPs want to attend abroad will benefit the island.

Yesterday, Dr Muscat made it clear that pairing is not a priority issue for his party.

Speaking during a party activity in Siġġiewi in the series Niltaqa' Magħkom, he told supporters that the opposition is ready to hold talks with the government on transparency in party financing, adding that the MLP is prepared to publish all its financial records.

He said Labour wants the people to know that there are no wealthy businessmen behind the politicians they vote for.

The party, he added, also wants talks on the regulation of activities of a caretaker government prior to a general election, the resources available to Members of Parliament, especially those on the opposition benches, and amendments to the electoral law.

It also wants to seek justice for those who have had cases upheld by the Ombudsman or the Tribunal for the Investigation of Injustices.

Another subject it wants to broach in discussions with the government is reform in the management and editorial appointments at Public Broadcasting Services Ltd, the operators of the state TV station, in order to ensure a proper balance between political parties and civil society. The PBS chairman should be chosen by the government and the opposition, Dr Muscat said.

The opposition will also call on the government to cap its revenue from excise duty on the sale of fuel, especially in view of the price people have to pay for this commodity.

With regard to the surcharge on water and electricity, he insisted that the government should publish the social and economic impact studies it carried out prior to pushing up the surcharge from 50 to 95 per cent.

Dr Muscat said that four months ago, during the electoral campaign, Dr Gonzi had promised that people will have more spending power. But now the opposite was happening and people were finding it difficult to make ends meet.

The government had to be transparent in the way it calculated the surcharge and explain why, despite hedging agreements, the increase in the surcharge was so drastic.

Moreover, the government should explain its reasoning behind the statement that consumers are not paying for Enemalta's inefficiencies through the surcharge. Dr Muscat criticised the government for taking no action on the use of alternative energy.

He also lambasted the government for keeping mum on the Mistra case involving one of its MPs, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, and also its silence on the Malta Environment and Planning Authority sitting last week when the authority prepared a press release announcing the approval of the Fort Cambridge development in Sliema before the hearing had even started. He asked whether Dr Gonzi was planning an inquiry into this incident.

Dr Muscat also spoke about the privatisation of the Malta Shipyards, saying workers were worried about their future.

After Siġġiewi, Dr Muscat and his deputies, along with several MPs and candidates, visited Luqa which was yesterday celebrating the feast of its patron, St Andrew. Here Dr Muscat visited the band clubs and both the MLP and PN clubs.