Rule of law reforms should not be led in "secret" by a Steering Committee made up of political representatives with no clear terms of reference and no basis at law, the Democratic Party has said.
It said in a statement on Wednesday that it was completely in favour of implementing the suggestions of the Venice Commission.
The Council of Europe's Venice Commission issued an opinion on Malta's rule of law on Monday in which it highlighted various shortcomings in Malta's governance structures.
Replying, the government welcomed the Commission's recommendations and said a Steering Committee led by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca would be responsible for proposing reforms in line with the recommendations.
The PD, however, said this was not the right way to do things. The steering committee, it said, was simply a gathering of representatives of the Labour and Nationalist parties. It was not a committee with broad enough representation to ensure comprehensive debate, PD said.
This was not about PD or other political parties being left out, it was about civil society, trade unions, media, judges, lawyers, the chamber of advocates, NGOs, and a number of stakeholders being left out, the party said.
Read:What rule of law experts said about Malta - and why it matters.
It noted that while the proceedings of the steering committee were secret, the issues raised in the Venice Commission report were too important to discuss in secret.
“We need to have a national conversation on how to ensure our judiciary is independent, our parliament functions properly, and our government respects the rules.”
The committee was also not bound by any timeline. This meant that the proposals of the Venice Commission might never see the light of day as had happened in the case of the Bonello Commission.
“The conclusions of the report should form the blueprint of the upcoming constitutional reform. The recommendations should be taken alongside the recommendations of previous work of the Venice Commission and other work carried out by previous administrations but never implemented,” it said.
“We need to get over the finishing line. Constitutional reform has been delayed and repeatedly delayed capriciously by both PN and more so by PL,” MP Marlene Farrugia said.
PD added that the place to discuss the recommendations of the Venice Commission was primarily Parliament and then the Constitutional Convention.
“We ask the government to present a law in Parliament to properly establish the terms of reference of the Constitutional Convention so that we set the ball rolling with a clear and specific mandate.”