We had a midsummer night’s dream. But it was not to be. The Prime Minister missed on a great opportunity to reach consensus with the Opposition about the Standing Orders of the House.
The Prime Minister, who had promised a consensual approach to politics (what a joke!) was, for the umpteenth time, adamant. His message is loud and clear: I want. I can. I shall.
Notwithstanding the fact that government was elected to power with a nine seat majority, it decreed that all votes are taken on a Wednesday and, whenever government deems appropriate, the votes can be taken on the following Wednesday.
When in totally different circumstances (government had only a one seat majority and there was no pairing agreement) a similar proposal was presented during the former legislature, the present members of government then in opposition had cried foul and described such a motion as one driven by arrogance.
The art developed by the government has been that of camouflaging reality
One present minister had even gone as far as stating that with that kind of motion, we might just as well as stay at home and vote over the phone.
When the Opposition leader called on government ministers to respect their parliamentary duties, he was accused of asking them to stay away from European Council meetings. If that is the case, how did the former government with a one seat majority manage all its European meetings and commitments?
Votes will now be held on the date deemed most convenient for government, and whenever there is a call for a quorum, members will have three times as much time to make their way to the House as they ever had before the procedural motion pushed through by government.
Moreover government has made a total mockery of the rule that on every other Thursday private members’ Bills or motions should have precedence over government work.
When our Standing Orders enacted in 1922 provided for that rule, the House would have a meeting every Thursday, which meant that a quarter of total parliamentary time was allocated to initiatives by private members.
When Thursday sittings were no longer held on a regular basis, it was argued that if the government does not take up its Thursday sitting, then the Opposition or backbenchers in general could not take up a sitting which alternates with it.
Guess how the government decided to tackle this issue?
There will be guaranteed alternating sittings for government and for all private members. Let trumpets be blown and let praise be heaped on the government for being so magnanimous. The guarantee will apply every three months!
If three months go by and government does not have a Thursday sitting, in the following three months (provided there is no recess) a private member – who could be a government backbencher – would have the right for a sitting regardless.
You do not need to major in mathematics to work out that at best that means one sitting for the Opposition every nine months.
In the House of Commons in the UK, there is an allocation of 20 days in every parliamentary session (every year) for opposition business, and another 35 days for backbench business.
Another lost opportunity refers to introducing a prime minister’s question time. Why does the Prime Minister fear this challenge? Is it because he would not like to be asked about the countless secret agreements? Is it because he would not like to be asked about his visit to Singapore accompanied by his disappointing Panamites (hopefully I am allowed to coin one new term) to do a virtual ‘sail away’ of the gas floating storage unit - two weeks before the real ‘sail away’ of the controversial tanker? Or maybe he would not like to be asked why he treats those who “disappoint” him better than those who don’t?
It was not to be. The reality being experienced is closer to a nightmare where the art developed by government has been that of camouflaging reality.
We cannot even trust government when it quotes the Euroepan barometer on its trust ratings. When dreams end, all is not what it seems (or rather what it is made to seem) to be.
Francis Zammit Dimech is a Nationalist MP.