The Prime Minister is considering making constitutional amendments and splitting the ministerial remits of justice and home affairs, both issues that rebel backbencher Franco Debono has been pressing for.
The announcement was made on the evening news bulletin of the Nationalist Party’s television station.
“The Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is prepared to consider constitutional amendments which take our country in a new and modern direction,” the NET news report said.
“This after MP Franco Debono suggested initiatives for constitutional amendments, which were also mentioned on different occasions by the Opposition.
“Beyond this, the Prime Mininster said he was prepared to consider the way certain ministries are divided, particularly with regards to justice and the police.”
The announcement comes on the eve of a vote on the financial estimates of the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry, currently headed by Carm Mifsud Bonnici. The minister this week came under heavy fire from Dr Debono for his proposals to amend the Criminal Code, which the young MP said “merely scratched the surface”.
Dr Debono, a criminal lawyer, was scathing in his criticism of the ministry saying: “The vision of justice is lacking. The criminal code amendments presented by the Justice Minister last week don’t get to the heart of problems.”
At the same time, when asked on Tuesday whether this latest development would affect the way he votes on the ministry’s budget, Dr Debono – who twice left the government without a majority in this legislature – would not comment.
Asked for a reaction in response to the surprise announcement Dr Debono said that as far as he knew, the Prime Minister had been considering this move for quite some time.
“This would bring our country in line with most other EU countries. In fact it is only in two other countries that the ministries are not split, Sweden and Ireland,” he said.
“We must embark on an urgent and serious process of constitutional reforms to strengthen all of our institutions, including, a more autonomous Parliament, the judiciary’s independence and the administration’s accountability as well as the inadequate way in which the President is appointed by a simple resolution of two-thirds majority.”
A spokesman for Dr Mifsud Bonnici said he was not in a position to comment yesterday evening.
In his comments to Net News, Dr Gonzi pointed out that the idea to separate justice and home affairs came from Dr Debono, who argued that the arm responsible for the courts and that for police should not be headed by the same minister, in line with the practice in other EU countries.
The reasoning, Dr Gonzi said, was valid, given the differing roles, and this was something he was prepared to consider.
Earlier, when asked by The Times for a comment on Dr Debono’s reaction to the proposed amendments, Dr Gonzi had simply said he was not worried about the vote.
“We have the debate tomorrow (today) and let us wait for it,” he said, adding that Dr Debono’s contribution was “precious”.
Speaking specifically about the MP’s criticism of the Bill to amend the Criminal Code, he said: “There are some points that have to be examined in detail and so Franco’s suggestions to have a good final product are precious and we will consider them,” Dr Gonzi said, emphasising that the discussion today would be about the Budget and not the Bill or Dr Debono’s motion.
Dr Debono’s latest outburst in fact came after he filed a private member’s motion for sweeping reforms to the justice system. He said he felt “hurt” that the minister had not consulted the PN parliamentary group before announcing the amendments on Monday.