(Adds government reply)
The Nationalist Party wants to repeal the legal notice that set up a government agency responsible for local enforcement because it goes against the principle of subsidiarity.
A motion to repeal the law setting up the agency was this afternoon presented to the Speaker by Opposition Whip David Agius, PN deputy leader Mario de Marco and shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi.
Dr de Marco said the creation of a centralised agency was a step backward since it usurped power from local councils.
“When local councils were set up the idea behind them was to devolve power to structures closer to the people and this attempt to centralise local law enforcement retracts from that commitment,” Dr de Marco said.
Acknowledging that the current system of local enforcement was not perfect, he noted that the agency was set up without consultation.
“If there were defects in the system or some localities did not cooperate it would have been better to consult and find common solutions,” he said.
Mr Agius insisted any changes related to local councils had always been introduced by consensus and the creation of a new agency bucked this trend.
He said that last year the Opposition had made suggestions to have local wardens assigned to localities with councils having the power to decided on where, how and when to deploy them.
Dr Azzopardi said an additional concern was that the person heading the agency was answerable and accountable to the minister who appointed him, which pushed power further away from local councils.
Former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit was appointed as agency head last month.
AGENCY WILL COORDINATE AND LEAD SECTOR - GOVERNMENT
In a statement, the government said the agency was set up to coordinate and eventually lead the local enforcement sector for more justice and sensibility.
It would also permit regions to serve their real function, which was to be the go between between the central government and the councils they represented.
The government said it was not true that no consultation was carried out. The government had published a white paper and the agency was set up as a result of that discussion.
The aim behind the agency was to maximise the resources and ensure that the system did not remain just a ticket issuing machine.
The agency would have a continuous consultation process with the regions and councils to be sensitive to their needs and ensure that wardens also had a crucial role in communities which was not uniquely related to the issue of tickets.