No progress has been made in the pay dispute between Air Malta and the pilots’ union, although progress had been made in talks with other unions on the sale of a stake in the airline to Alitalia, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today.
“The government is not trying to stop industrial action but to ensure the action is not disproportionate to the extent that it could cripple or destroy the company,” he said.
Last week a court provisionally upheld an Air Malta request for an injunction to stop the pilots' union from taking industrial action that could jeopardise talks with Alitalia.
“Air Malta cannot give what it does not have. I believe there is a future for Air Malta but we all need to act responsibly,” the prime minister told journalists at a press conference.
The Prime Minister also said that talks with Alitalia over the sale of a 49 per cent stake in Air Malta were still ongoing, and that the government would only accept an offer that was in the interest of the country.
Fielding other questions from journalists, Dr Muscat once again refused to provide a deadline for the completion of the new gas-fired power station.
“Soon you will have not only a deadline but a big event,” he said, despite being pressed for details.
The press conference was held to highlight Constitutional amendments on the appointment and discipline of judges, approved unanimously by parliament yesterday.
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the amendments were “the most significant amendments in the history of the Republic.”
“What we have introduced is a fundamental change in our judicial structure which will create a more open, transparent and meritocratic process,” Dr Bonnici said, addressing a press conference with the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech on recent legislative developments.
The judicial amendments will create a five-person independent committee responsible for advising the government on judicial appointments. The government will be able to go against the committee’s advice but will need to state its reasons for doing so.
A new sub committee formed of serving magistrates and judges will also enforce discipline on the members of the judiciary. To date, the Council for the Administration of Justice had only been able to recommend impeachment as a disciplinary measure, but now the committee has more options, including suspension and a fine of up to 10 per cent of a yearly salary.
Dr Bonnici said reform on pensions for judges and magistrates would help to attract better talent to the judiciary.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the changes, together with amendments intended to increase the autonomy of Parliament, showed a government “willingly ceding power to provide additional checks and balanced in the interest of the country”.
“For the first time, Prime Ministers will be legally obliged to seek independent advice on judicial appointments,” Dr Muscat said.
“Parliament, meanwhile, will no longer be considered simply a department of government. It is demeaning for the highest state institution to depend on government to carry out its work.”
The PM also made reference to the forthcoming introduction of a law on standards in public life, as well as a motion to be tabled soon introducing administrative penalties for MPs who fail to attend parliamentary sittings without justification.
“In no other area of work are you allowed not to turn up without good reason,” Dr Muscat said. “Politicians should no longer be an exception to this rule.”
PN REACTION
In a reaction, the Nationalist Party pointed out that the Bill on standards in public life was moved on the initiative of the Leader of the Opposition in September 2013, in the wake of a series of scandals, which has not abated.
The law to reform the manner of judicial appointments was moved after the government ‘breached the constitution’ in the way it appointed magistrates earlier this year, it said.
The Muscat government had lowered standards in public life, to the extent that it even came up with a code of ethics for ministers and parliamentary secretaries that was weaker than the one it replaced.
The PN recalled that Opposition leader Simon Busuttil had made 109 proposals to raise stands in public life and instil greater public confidence in politicians.