Justice Minister Owen Bonnici insisted today that there was nothing wrong with him weighing in on today’s court judgement granting the PN two extra seats in Parliament.
The judgement comes in the wake of an appeal filed by the Labour Party against the original court judgement giving the PN two seats.
Dr Bonnici, who is politically responsible for the independent courts, said he felt he had a duty to pronounce himself on the judgement, so that everyone in Malta and Gozo would know that the government would be respecting the court decision.
He contrasted this to the approach taken by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, who he said “attacked” the Constitutional Court some months ago in a very strong manner.
“Here we are saying that we are disappointed with the result, but are going to see that the decision is implemented and that we will continue to do our work to make our country a better place,” Dr Bonnici said.
When it was pointed out that it went without saying that the government would respect a court decision, and there was nothing for it to implement when it came to the decision, Dr Bonnici said that was another argument.
“The question you asked is if it is appropriate to make it crystal clear that the government will be respecting this court judgement,” Dr Bonnici said.
He insisted that he and his colleagues were acting in a responsible manner by pronouncing themselves on the court judgement.
Last September, some 10 Cabinet members turned up in court to hear follow the proceedings of the appeal.