Most of the proposals made by the Nationalist Party to make parliament more effective were actually included in the Labour Party manifesto, the government said.

The PL's proposals included constitutional reform, parliamentary scrutiny of chairpersons of public entities, the setting up of mechanisms to safeguard standards in public life and the participation of more women in politics.

The government was reacting after the Nationalist Party on Friday made a series of proposals, including the need for parliament to allocate a specific time to the Prime Minister answering MPs' questions, greater resources handed to the legislature and for ambassadors, authority chairs and police and army chiefs to be grilled by parliament before being appointed.

In a statement signed by Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne and Labour whip Byron Camilleri, the government said Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has already promised that he is open to discussion to proposals, including establishing a different time schedule for parliamentary sittings.

These discussions will start after the new PN leader is elected.

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