In the national interest

Pairing is needed for the efficient working of Parliament and, ideally, no conditions ought, therefore, to be imposed on a matter of such great importance" (The Times, April 24). Now that Malta's membership in the European Union involves meeting many new commitments abroad requiring members from both sides of the House to travel to Brussels and other places, pairing is more vital than ever. In fact, after having failed to send a representative to four meetings in the space of a week, a European Parliament official revealed: "We are quite concerned about this constant lack of participation from Maltese parliamentarians" (The Times, June 26).

In April, the Labour Parliamentary Group met to discuss the government's proposals regarding the appointment of the Speaker of the House, the Deputy Speaker and parliamentary "pairing". With regard to pairing, Labour proposed a temporary arrangement but reserved the right, at a later stage, to declare its position in the long term, by the new Labour leadership. Now, we are waiting with bated breath for Joseph Muscat et al to commit to a more permanent state of affairs.

Since the March election, several Labour components have aired their views on various parliamentary issues.

Dr Muscat, referred to the Speaker's appointment as a benchmark to measure Lawrence Gonzi's words with Dr Gonzi's deeds. On March 17 (Reaching Benchmarks) he wrote: "Given the electoral result, the opposition should be given the possibility to nominate a person for this post". The Prime Minister did just that. On April 22, linking the proposal to an agreement on "pairing", the Prime Minister proposed that an opposition member of Parliament be appointed Speaker of the House.

On March 31, in the General Workers' Union daily, Labour MP Joe Cuschieri argued that, once the Nationalists would be asking for a "pairing" agreement, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker should not be imposed by the government but agreed upon with the opposition. He proposed several conditions in exchange of Labour agreeing to parliamentary "pairing".

The Speaker of the House cum "pairing" issue was also brought up by Gavin Gulia, albeit on a different tune. On April 21 he wrote: "In my view, challenging the government for the Speaker's seat would be a mission next to impossible as the government cannot be expected to renounce to such a delicate seat of power ..." He explained: "The opposition cannot afford to be perceived as trying to bring down the government at the first opportunity. We will cut no ice with the electorate out there" and concluded: "On pairing, the opposition must be with the people for the people" (The Malta Independent).

In the same piece Dr Gulia suggested that when he was "a Cabinet minister in 1998 there was no pairing agreement". May I remind him that during a meeting between the then Prime Minister Alfred Sant and Opposition Leader Eddie Fenech Adami on November 20, 1996, a "pairing" agreement was reached and put into practice. During that same meeting Myriam Spiteri Debono was appointed Speaker of the House and Michael Bonnici, Deputy Speaker. The "pairing" agreement was later withdrawn when the Leader of the Opposition was inhumanely "forced" to attend Parliament against his doctor's advice.

Contrary to Labour's opportunistic attitude towards "pairing", the Nationalist parliamentary group has always held high the value of parliamentary "pairing" in a true democracy. In 1996, it had not only agreed to "pairing" it had also appointed a Labour-leaning Speaker. Unfortunately, now that the ball is on the other foot, the opposition is not only not committing to long-term "pairing", it is demanding to choose the Speaker of the House.

"Pairing" in fits and starts is having a detrimental effect on the government and Malta to boot as we are not being represented at high-level meetings held abroad and in decision-making processes. For the common good, the opposition should bend over backwards to ensure that enough members of Parliament are available to travel overseas in spite of Parliament's very tight schedule.

To quote Dr Gulia "it would be foolish for Labour not to use pairing as a tool. But in my view it has to be a tool for negotiation on matters of extra-parliamentary interest and not as a tool of destructiveness".

I appeal to Dr Muscat to practise what he preached in writing in this very paper (June 30) and, in the national interest, find the courage required "to differentiate between opportunism and responsibility even if it dilutes possible advantageous situations".