Malta’s new legislature would be delivery-oriented with “more action, less excuses” and clear priorities in the place of “frills and unfulfilled plans”, President George Abela said as he read out the parliamentary opening speech yesterday.

For this Government, it does not matter who you are

The speech set an end-of-2014 target for splitting up the Malta Environmental and Planning Authority and promised aggressive investment in renewable energy sources.

But it was the prickly political tone that ran through the speech, from talk of “arrogant leadership” in the past to a pledge to “clean up politics”, that resonated loudest.

The Government would always keep in mind that Malta belonged to everyone, Dr Abela said.

“It does not belong to a clique. Not even to a politician or a party. That time has passed.”

The speech promised a Government that would not ride roughshod over the Opposition or become mired in negative politics and that would “not say all that was promised cannot be done because it encountered problems”.

Aside from the political pledges, the speech touched upon many of the electoral pledges which swept the Labour Party into power last month.

A gas-driven power station would wean Malta off its total dependence on oil for electricity generation, while the Marsa power station site would be regenerated once the plant was decommissioned, making up for the years of smog endured by locals.

Malta’s renewable energy targets, that had been based on the assumption of creating wind farms which looked increasingly unfeasible, would not be met, Dr Abela said.

He said that with the country now Europe’s laggard, “aggressive investment” in solar and other renewable energy sources was needed to make up for lost time.

Mepa’s environment and planning functions would be separated by the end of next year, Dr Abela said, with the environment forming part of an Environment and Resources Authority and planning becoming part of a Planning and Sustainable Development Authority.

Political transparency measures such as a Whistleblower’s Act, party financing law and the removal of prescription periods for cases of political corruption would help re-instil faith in politicians, while the “serious political mistake” of surreptitiously awarding politicians pay rises would not be repeated.

Proposals such as tax breaks for working women and pensioners, implementing active labour market policies or universal free childcare for working parents, would bolster job creation, the President said.

The speech also promised a Government that would better control national debt and not let it rise at the “alarming rate” of the past few years, reducing waste and producing “more work with less expense”.

A proposed nationwide social programme to provide community housing for the disabled was described as “one of the greatest social measures to ever be implemented”.

An analysis of the current justice and legal system would be completed by the end of June, Dr Abela said, with the entire reform process expected to be completed by the end of the year.

“For this Government, it does not matter who you are,” the President read, saying that the time had come to strengthen individuals’ civil liberties. In practice, that would mean a cohabitation law, civil unions for same-sex couples and a law regulating trans-gender identification.

Education policies would focus on empowering teachers and reducing illiteracy levels, which remained overly high. Investment in campuses would continue, while stipends would also be given to those who repeated a year to get into University.

Investment in health had been “positive” in the past but had not translated into positive patient experiences, Dr Abela said. The Government would empower citizens through a charter of patient rights and improvement in primary healthcare facilities.

Having argued that Malta could make its presence better felt in Latin America, Asia and within the Commonwealth, President Abela said the Government’s landslide electoral victory now called for the creation of a fair society which fostered unity rather than division.

“The Government is convinced that time – that Malta tagħna lkoll [Malta for all] – is now with us,” he concluded.