If the government enjoys a stable majority it should not be “afraid” of convening Parliament, the Labour Party said yesterday.
Muscat spent four years carrying out parliamentary manoeuvres to hurt government
Describing the government’s decision not to convene Parliament unless all Nationalist MPs are on the island as “shameful”, Labour said the government had nothing to fear since it already held a tight control on votes according to a procedural motion introduced in May 2010.
“According to the motion, unplanned votes demanded during a parliamentary session have to take place the following Wednesday,” a Labour spokesman told The Times.
The Nationalist Party on Monday blamed its decision to keep Parliament closed on the Opposition’s “parliamentary manoeuvres”.
“The relationship between government and Opposition in Parliament has had to change,” the PN said, referring to the Opposition’s motion of no-confidence tabled after several anti-government declarations made by Nationalist MP Franco Debono.
In another press release issued yesterday, the PN accused Opposition leader Joseph Muscat of spending four years carrying out parliamentary manoeuvres to hurt the government.
The PN made reference to May 2010 when the Opposition tried to force a vote in Parliament despite both sides agreeing not to take any. The PN said the Opposition had done this because it was aware one of the government’s MPs was abroad on government business.
“Dr Muscat’s ambition to become Prime Minister as soon as possible is so overwhelming that he is incapable of understanding that in moments like these, the national interest should come before personal interests,” the PN added.
But in response to the PN’s statements, the Labour Party referred to the government’s “watertight” motion regulating parliamentary business and said PN’s actions only confirmed the Prime Minister has lost his majority.
“The only manoeuvring taking place is by the Prime Minister who knows that the only way to solve this crisis is by calling elections (according to his yardstick) but is instead clinging to power.”Contacted yesterday evening for his reaction to Labour’s statement about the procedural motion, Nationalist whip David Agius said he had nothing to add to the party’s press release.
Meanwhile, former PN President Frank Portelli said this issue did nobody any good and should be placed in the laps of the “indefatigable duo” – party whips Mr Agius and Joe Mizzi – who should be able to come up with a solution.
“They should put the country above partisan interests. The people expect Parliament to function properly – it cannot function erratically – and we all expect our elected representatives to find a working solution. If an agreement is not reached it will make our politicians vie with bankers in the poor popularity poll.”
Constitutional lawyer and former Labour MP Joe Brincat said: “A party in government should not be afraid to stand the heat of Parliament. If it cannot stand the heat, then it has lost its legitimacy and should shoulder responsibility for that.”
Dr Brincat pointed out that whenever there was no agreement on pairing, government members were told not to travel abroad, especially when there was a vote on the agenda. “On one occasion (Labour’s) John Dalli went abroad without telling anyone and had to return by private jet at his expense,” he recalled.
Instead of asking the Opposition for any guarantees, the government should be sure it has a majority, Dr Brincat said.
“If that does not exist, then there is only one honourable option. It is the Constitution which has given a guarantee by adding one member to the party with a relative majority of votes. If that is no longer enough, then what next?”
Alternattiva Demokratika said the PN’s decision “will only deepen the current parliamentary crisis”, leaving the country guessing about Franco Debono’s next move.
“What is required is a general election and national consensus to adopt electoral reforms that guarantee true pluralism. The current crisis results from a two-party system based on coalitions of individuals, rather than coalitions of parties,” chairman Michael Briguglio said.