Opposition foreign affairs spokesman George Vella this morning called for talks with the government on the concept of neutrality , which, he said, needed to be redefined in the context of current realities while still being entrenched in the Constitution.
Dr Vella was speaking in Parliament during the Budget debate on the financial estimates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the same time, he said, Malta needed to make security arrangements without subjecting itself to becoming a military base or forming part of any military alliance.
Dr Vella declared that a future Labour government would retain Malta's participation in the Partnership for Peace (PFP) as long as it exercised absolute control in what operations to participate in.
He rebuked the government for failing to discuss Malta's re-entry in the PFP and criticized the Prime Minister for ignoring Parliament, while having announced the re-participation to the US Ambassador. Parliament had the right of scrutiny on defence and security matters, Dr Vella insisted.
Dr Vella spoke at length on the Libyan revolution praising the government for the way it handled the matter. He said that credit should also be given to the Opposition for its support and caution even though the government stopped its consultation in the latter stage. He called on the government not to rush on issues of oil exploration with Libya as one could not expect a rapid solution.
He praised the heroic acts performed by the Libyan people to gain their freedom, adding also that the no fly zone was instrumental in stopping the massacre in Benghazi. He augured that the new Libya would fully participate in Mediterranean political structures. There was the need for the new government to tackle problems not only in re building the country but also the control of arms and the reconciliation among tribes.
Dr Vella said Malta and others states were very cautious on condemning and on taking action against government repression in Syria, Yemen and Bahrein. A two weights two measures policy was adopted.
He criticised the government for not taking a stronger stance on the Palestinian issue and for not condemning the use of force by Israel. He said that the EU condemned violent acts but did not otherwise act. NATO did well to defend Libyans in Benghazi but should have done so also when the Israeli armed forces killed 1,500 Palestinians in Gaza.
Dr Vella argued that the MEUSAC should become a parliamentary and not a ministerial structure to discuss EU-related issues.