Important appointments should be approved by special parliamentary committees, Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola said today.

Launching the green party's electoral manifesto, Prof. Cassola said AD was proposing that parliamentary committees scrutinise heads of civil service, all ambassadors, and all public appointments above the grade of director, before they take up office.

"This will avoid the situation we have today where because you were a disc jockey on a party radio station you can become an ambassador, or served pastizzi at political coffee mornings you suddenly become the CEO of the State hospital," he said.

The party is also proposing that Parliament “re-appropriate” constitutional bodies and national boards and entities from the government.

The country, Prof. Cassola said, could not tolerate a situation where new governments fill state entities with party loyalists and cronies.

AD today approved 10 election candidates, nine of whom are men.

The party’s manifesto includes familiar proposals on the environment and social policy.

Pledges on ethics in public life and sustainable develop also feature.