Reference to the Roman Catholic religion should not be removed from Malta’s Constitution since it is part of Malta’s cultural heritage and the faith of the majority of people, Labour leader Joseph Muscat personally believes.
There are small communities that may not feel they have a bond with the religion
However, a Labour government would make sure there was a clear separation between Church and State, based on respect and collaboration. Dr Muscat gave the examples of giving Church schools more curricular autonomy and drawing a clear distinction between civil and ecclesiastical marriage.
“The crucial point here is to recognise the realities that there are small communities that may not feel they have a bond with the Catholic religion,” he said during a televised interview organised by the Broadcasting Authority and aired last night on TVM.
Replying to journalists’ questions, he said that, as part of its electoral proposals, Labour wanted to establish a constitutional convention to draft changes to the Constitution.
Any changes would only be passed if they had a popular mandate, perhaps by referendum, he said.
Sticking to the subject of religion, Dr Muscat made reference to the news of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation. He said the Church seemed to be going through a regeneration process. “These are exciting times for this institution that will, no doubt, have international repercussions,” he said.
As he fielded questions about an array of subjects, Dr Muscat said Labour’s electoral programme was a roadmap that would lead to economic growth.
He said if elected to government his party would work with the Opposition towards economic growth and would “share the platform” of Malta’s 2017 EU presidency.
Speaking about the party’s proposal to build a new gas-fuelled power station and gas holding facility, he said he was committed to delivering within the time frames announced in the beginning of the campaign.
This meant having the power plant up and running within two years and slashing utility bills for families by next year.
Dr Muscat again criticised the Government for stubbornly insisted on using heavy fuel oil despite several recommendations. As a consequence it spent about €1 million a day on buying oil “on which commission was, or is, paid”, he said referring to the recent Enemalta oil scandal.
As for the police investigation into the scandal, he said he had faith in the Commissioner of Police and did not want to say anything that would cast doubts on the respected institution.
On the allegations that Labour was getting too close to businessmen, he said he met the people who had met the Prime Minister.
The difference was that Labour was willing to listen to everyone and would support those with good ideas, irrespective of their political beliefs.