Editorial

A very important development took place in Parliament on Wednesday before the House rose for the summer recess. It was an announcement by the Prime Minister of an agreement with the opposition for the appointment of a select committee to discuss the strengthening of the democratic process.

It is important not only because of the intrinsic value of many of the issues that are to be discussed but also for the way the two sides have agreed to set up the committee. For these, and other reasons as well, the development may well mark the beginning of what both Lawrence Gonzi and Labour leader Joseph Muscat would like to see in the country: a new, mature way of doing politics.

Quite significantly, too, the development came in the wake of an agreement with the opposition over the appointment of the Auditor General and of the Deputy Auditor General. The post of Auditor General had been left vacant for a year as the government had been left without a reply to its proposal for the filling of the post, a crucial one for the proper administration of the country. In fact, the post is a constitutional one and requires the approval of a two-thirds majority in the House.

Matters finally came to a conclusion after the Labour leader some time ago published a list of issues which, he felt, needed to be tackled to strengthen democracy. But was not the post of Auditor General important enough to require the immediate attention of the opposition as well? To his credit, Dr Muscat took just two days to have the matter solved.

He wrote to the Prime Minister saying the Labour Party had now agreed to the nominations.

If this is the way Labour under Dr Muscat plans to act, it is a good omen, even though he and his party may have some strange ideas, such as that they do not consider agreement on pairing as a priority. It may not be a priority to his party but should not the opposition be as interested as the government of the day in ensuring that Parliament works smoothly in the country's interest?

With the party in government having only a one-seat majority in the House, Labour is using pairing to its full political advantage and it has, in fact, often stated that it would only consider it on a case-by-case basis. In taking this approach, Labour may appear to be scoring political goals in the eyes of its supporters but it will not endear it with the uncommitted voters.

To the list of issues Dr Muscat would like to have tackled, Dr Gonzi had produced another list. It was when he moved the second reading of the Freedom of Information Bill that Dr Gonzi proposed the setting up of a select committee to discuss points raised in an exchange of correspondence between the two party leaders. Issues the two parties have publicly raised include those over the electoral law, party funding, more effective measures against corruption, better administration of Parliament, quorum, a Whistleblower Act and the role of the Ombudsman.

Settlement of key issues would require a great deal of willingness and common sense. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango. Ideally, the two sides should first try and tackle issues over which they agree and then go on to discuss the rest.