Prior to the 2013 national elections, there was much talk by Joseph Muscat of the need to set up the second republic of Malta and, in the process leading up to it, reforming and updating the outdated articles of our constitution.
He promised solemnly that, under his premiership, he would set up a Convention for the reform of the Maltese Constitution.
President George Abela also contributed to the idea of reforming our constitution through the informative and insightful debates on constitutional reform that he championed and encouraged through the President’s Forum.
Alternattiva Demokratika has also been on the forefront with a substantial number of proposals relative to the required constitutional reform.
The idea of a convention is an intelligent one. Fifty years after the approval of the Independence constitution, the world and Malta have moved on. We are today living in a different Malta and the constitution needs to reflect today’s realities.
After being elected as Prime Minister, on various occasions, including during the current year, Muscat has often referred to the supposedly upcoming convention and to issues that should be dealt with by it.
Encouraged by this seemingly positive turn of events, the Today Public Policy Institute, under the stewardship of former speaker Michael Frendo, Martin Scicluna and the now departed Peter Serracino Inglott, has embarked on a thorough examination of the present constitution and has produced a solid basis for discussion during the convention.
The document produced by the TPPI touches on various areas that are up for discussion, and possible reform.
Should the Prime Minister continue to be vested with practically absolute powers, whereby he basically decides on every appointment in this country, ranging from the head of the Civil Service to the Bank of Valletta chairman, from the judges to be nominated to the party hacks that are sent out to represent Malta in embassies abroad, from the army and police chiefs to his wife’s business partner and minister Konrad Mizzi’s wife, anointed as the representatives of Malta Enterprise in New York and China respectively?
We cannot any longer be kept hostages to Muscat’s haughtiness, Busuttil’s pride and Debono’s ego-centrism
Should Malta have a bicameral or unicameral parliament?
Should the President of the Republic continue being elected through a simple majority of votes in Parliament or should the electoral base for his election be widened and the quota for election become a qualified majority of two-thirds? Should the functions, prerogatives and powers of the President be increased?
And what about the judiciary? Should judges and magistrates be answerable to Parliament rather than to the Prime Minister who appoints them?
Do we need more measures for a transparent, open and accountable system of governance to ensure a citizen-centred constitution rather than the present State-centred one?
In my opinion, we definitely need to have a fully autonomous parliament and continuous parliamentary scrutiny on the government’s actions and behaviour if we are to guarantee the best possible for our citizens.
A reform of the current electoral system, which has been tailor-made to suit the needs of the traditional two parties, is also an urgent must.
All the above issues and others should be dealt with at the supposedly upcoming constitutional convention. But time is running out.
Important changes to the constitution are not made on the eve of elections, neither in the latter part of the legislature.
In 12 months’ time, this legislature will be past its mid-term. If the convention has not started by that time, we can conclude it has been definitely killed and buried.
Indeed, the Maltese people and the constitutional convention are being held hostage by three people.
In order to humiliate the Nationalists, Muscat has appointed as coordinator of the convention, Franco Debono who, despite his well-known qualities and capabilities, will never be accepted as the leading person in the constitutional reform process by the Nationalists, after having contributed to the downfall of his own government in the last legislature.
Just imagine Dom Mintoff being appointed by the Nationalists as hypothetical convenor of constitutional reform in 1998 after having brought down the Alfred Sant government!
Three people must take a step backward to ensure that the constitutional reform process gets kick-started immediately: we cannot any longer be kept hostages to Muscat’s haughtiness, Simon Busuttil’s pride and Debono’s ego-centrism.
Time will soon tell us whether these three have any sense of State, love for their country and vision for the future or whether it is just a question of ‘me, myself and my party’.
arnoldcassola@gmail.com