Speaker of the House Michael Frendo complained today that 89 years after the setting up of the Legislative Assembly, there was still not enough appreciation by the people of the function of Parliament.
Dr Frendo was speaking at the foot of the June 7 monument during the ceremony which recalled the riots of 1919 which led to the setting up of the Legislative Assembly in 1921. Six persons died when they were shot or bayoneted by British troops.
Dr Frendo said that a notable feature of the raging arguments over the new Parliament House was the lack of appreciation of the role of Parliament and its importance. Neither was there appreciation of the work of MPs.
He said action was needed to give value to the work of Parliament in people's minds. The House of Representatives should not only be perceived by the people as being some arena of conflict, especially when most laws were passed by consensus.
He said that House sittings, as well as the sittings of committees, needed to be opened to more media. The House itself needed to improve its administrative and support set-up in order to assume its strengthened role as laid down in the Lisbon Treaty
Dr Frendo said a bigger distinction also needed to be made between Parliament and the Executive - roles which many people did not distinguish.
"The time has come for another leap of quality," Dr Frendo said after referring to the progress made since the setting up of parliamentary standing committees in the mid-1990s.
He urged MPs to remember the ultimate sacrifice made in 1919 by Manwel Attard, Guze Bajada, Wenzu Dyer, Karmenu Abela, Cikku Darmanin and Toni Caruana. He said MPs should continue to promote everything that made the people truly Maltese - including their history, language, rule of law, traditions , rights and sovereignty.
MPs, he said, should also show mutual respect and be always ready to hear each other, since that was what gave dignity to Parliament, which was the nation's highest instiuttion.
After the address, flowers were laid by Dr Frendo, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat and representatives of political parties and constituted bodies. The ceremony was held for the first time at Hastings Garden, where the monument was set up in the past few weeks after having been moved from St George's Square.