Last Monday, I took the oath of office as Leader of the Opposition and yesterday I announced the Shadow Cabinet. As a parliamentary group we are now ready to get down to business.
The public has a right to know where we stand with them and where they stand with us
In my first address as Leader of the Opposition on Monday, I promised a strong and constructive Opposition. We intend to stick to this pledge and to give a new meaning to the role of an effective Opposition in Parliament.
We know that we have to strive hard to regain the respect and trust of the people and we will do our best to do just that.
For this reason, we intend to extend a hand of friendship and cooperation to the Government in the performance of its mandate. And, in return, we expect the Government to do likewise and to treat Parliament and the Opposition with dignity and respect.
We believe that an effective Opposition is an essential feature of a functioning democracy because it serves as a counter-balance to the powers and performance of the Government and we intend to honour this function to scrutinise its actions very closely.
By strong Opposition I mean that we shall not hold back from criticising the Government where this is necessary. And there is already a lot to be said about the Government’s performance. For instance, its decisions so far have fallen foul of its own pre-electoral Malta For All slogan and partisan appointments have already replaced any notion of meritocracy. A number of instances have already transpired where the Government has been found wanting on transparency and on ethical standards of conduct. We will not let such cases pass unnoticed.
But we will also be a constructive Opposition and we will not hold back from supporting decisions that are good and that pursue the national interest. We will have the courage to say yes when we need to say yes. We have already done so by voting in favour of the Budget and the law implementing its measures.
We shall participate actively in parliamentary work and in all parliamentary committees and we shall make our views known. And when we criticise, we shall come up with our alternative policies to show that we deserve to be considered as a government-in-waiting. We shall not wait for the election campaign to do so because we believe that the public has a right to know where we stand with them and where they stand with us.
We would like to see a functioning Petitions Committee in Parliament to receive petitions and complaints from citizens who are aggrieved by actions and decisions taken by the Government. People ought to be able to rely on their parliamentary representatives to defend their rights and Parliament should consider these petitions and take a stand.
We will also support initiatives that strengthen Parliament as the highest institution in the land and we hope that the Government will live up to its pledge to bolster Parliament’s autonomy and provide the institution with better resources to fulfil its functions.
The move to the new parliamentary premises will already go a long way in improving the prestige and working environment of the institution.
The Prime Minister has gone on record that he wants to give some members of the Opposition an Executive role.
We do not believe that it is the role of the Opposition to participate in executive functions because this is the remit of the government and it would weaken our ability to scrutinise the Government. However, we are nevertheless prepared to cooperate even on this front.
In 1996, the PN government had enacted the Opposition Nominees Act to enable the Opposition to nominate its own representatives on public authorities, boards and entities, thereby being in a better position to perform its tasks. Regrettably, this law was repealed by a Labour government.
I have asked the Prime Minister to consider re-enacting this law if he wants to be true to his word to give us a role. I await his reaction and I hope that he will consider this proposal positively.
We know that the Government intends to review the Constitution. This is an important process and we are willing to play our part.
However, Parliament must be fully involved in this process, not least because there are constitutional amendments that require the support of a two-thirds majority in the House.
Our mission is to be an effective Opposition and an alternative government. We shall be a loyal and serious Opposition. And we are getting down to business.
Simon Busuttil is leader of the Nationalist Party.