Malta should have a system where technocrats could be appointed to Parliament and the Cabinet, the Malta Employers' Association said today.
The suggestion, aimed at a better functioning of both parliament and the government, is made in a memorandum to the political parties announced this morning.
MEA Director-General Joe Farrugia said the association had gone beyond strictly sectoral issues.
He said the MEA believed that Malta should have a smaller parliament made up of full-timers. The possibility of engaging technocrats should be considered within a reform of the parliamentary system to instil more professionalism, Mr Farrugia said.
COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT DEADLINE
Referring to the recently-signed collective agreement for the civil service, Mr Farrugia said that the MEA was of the view that a deadline of six months before the end of the legislature should be set. No negotiations should be held beyond that deadline, to avoid electoral pressures on the government.
He stressed that a priority of any government should be to reduce the national debt. This priority should be considered in all government programmes which involved expenditure, Mr Farrugia said, adding that the debt should be reduced by 2% per year for the coming years.
He reiterated the MEA's position against the raising of the minimum wage, explaining that it would have a ripple effect on salaries across all scales, potentially undermining competitiveness and jobs.
However, he added, government action was needed to widen the margin between the minimum wage and social benefits in order to stop the practice among some people who preferred to live off benefits than go to work.
On education, Mr Farrugia said it was good that the government was allocating a significant part of its budget to this sector, but spending needed to be focused and results-oriented, with added focus on school drop-outs, for example. He also suggested that stipends should be tailored to different courses according to national needs.
PENSIONS
Turning to pensions, Mr Farrugia said that while this was not a good time to introduce mandatory second-pillar pensions, the government should continue to work on the sustainability of the current system while introducing voluntary investment in third-pillar pension schemes.
He said the MEA was also calling for radical reform of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), particularly the need for more frequent meetings which parallelled activity in parliament.
He also reiterated the MEA call for a reform of the price-setting mechanism for utility services, taking into consideration international oil prices, costs of generation and competitiveness.