The select committee for the strengthening of democracy was and remained the best forum for this aim, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this evening.

Speaking during the commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the first sitting of the legislative assembly and the senate following the Amery-Milner Constitution of 1921, he recalled that three years ago he had proposed the setting up of committee to propose measures to strengthen democracy, a proposal which the opposition had supported and on which there had been unanimous approval.

The government had started working on this unconditionally and with an open mind in a bid to engage in a genuine dialogue.

It wanted to give the people better tools for more informed participation to gain more effective and legitimate representation.

It wanted to strengthen institutions and make them more relevant.

Even the opposition had embarked on this work in the same spirit but a year and a half ago it withdrew in circumstances it believed had their own importance.

Dr Gonzi said that in such situations, one could not see just to the tip of his nose with one side or other believing that such a debate could be postponed.

The best results were acquired through genuine agreement and such agreement was urgent and in the best interest of the people.

Democratic institutions had to be strengthened to ensure they were responding to the peoples' needs and dealing with the real priorities. One also had to ensure that one was really working in the common good doing the utmost for economic and sustainable growth and a fairer distribution of wealth.

Speaking on values, Dr Gonzi said that one should work to acquire the ability, wisdom and humility to read and understand the signs of the times with the aim of gaining from fundamental values other qualities which distinguished the people helping them respond to current challenges, risks and opportunities.

Dr Gonzi apologised for whenever any MP failed in the carrying out of his duties.

Political life, he said, was a vocation to serve the people honestly, with integrity and patriotic love.

Honesty and integrity required everyone to research and gain objective recognition of what were the causes and real ingredients of each situation.

They helped find the substantial and viable choices which offered a mirage of the solution, as well as a planned strategy that was well-founded in reality and which attacked the root of the problems and solved them.

The enemy of all this was populism and this was again rearing its ugly head.

This irresponsibly offered the people half truths and simplistic arguments which appealed to everyone's negative sentiments.

History showed that the worst tragedies and human atrocities took place in countries where the people had allowed populism to reign, leading them to be abused by their leaders.

Times were complicated and complex and the worst thing that could happen was to fall to the temptation of appeals and strategies led by populism, he warned.

More than a new building for Parliament, Dr Gonzi said, he wanted the renewal of MPs internally and externally and the development of new working tools for continuous development and guidance.

Such tools could help more women and young people be protagonists. People would be able to trust such tools and believe they were used only in their real interests.