“My career is most satisfying, extremely interesting and full of challenges. I contributed to very important developments in Maltese society,” outgoing Speaker Louis Galea told Annaliza Borg in an interview. Dr Galea will be taking up his new appointment at the European Court of Auditors next month.

A lawyer by profession, Louis Galea dedicated the past 40 years to politics and has served in Parliament for 34 years. He entered politics in 1970, in preparation for the 1971 general elections. Between 1987 and 2008, Dr Galea served as minister of social policy, health, home affairs, education, culture and employment, among other duties. He has served as Speaker of the House of Representatives since 10 May 2008 and will be moving to a completely new post as member of the European Court of Auditors, based in Luxembourg, on 7 May – a challenge he is looking forward to with enthusiasm as his work will be taking an “innovative dimension”.

Nonetheless, he is determined to keep a close eye on all that will be taking place in Malta.

“This is my home country. I cannot hibernate or divorce myself from the Maltese intellectual and cultural humus that has become part of me. And so I must continue to feel people’s needs, achievements and aspirations, as if I were to be still in Malta,” he said.

His interest in politics and all that is going on started early in life and he wants to keep contact with as many Maltese and Gozitan people as possible to keep this driving force alive.

“I don’t know how it got into me, but I cannot detach myself from change, reform and the vision for future generations,” Dr Galea said.

Although he already seems to look back at his political career with a sense of nostalgia, Dr Galea is enthusiastic about his new post, because he feels it offers added value as he will be able “to see and reflect on things from a certain distance, with a different perspective, and this ought to bring with it a different insight.”

“I will be seeing developments from the point of view of one of the European institutions. I will be able to assess better how our country is developing in the European Union,” he said.

But how did Dr Galea get to move on to this new function?

“I was totally surprised when Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi mentioned the post to me on 18 January,” he said. “I had never even dreamt about it, wished it or asked for it”.

So he asked Dr Gonzi whether he was serious about the proposal and whether he could still consider the idea.

After discussing the matter with his wife Vincienne, Dr Galea had lengthy discussions with Prof. Josef Bonnici, the first Maltese to sit on the European Court of Auditors, whose term will be coming to an end shortly.

“Prof. Bonnici has served his term most effectively, assisting the Court to evolve more refined mechanisms, leaving an impact that will be missed, and hard to follow, making a good name not only for himself but also for Malta.”

Prof. Bonnici told Dr Galea his qualifications, experience and work record were good ingredients for him to serve on the court.

Although it is called the European Court of Auditors, Dr Galea explained the board, of which he will be forming part, does not carry out auditing work itself. Some 500 auditors are employed particularly for this reason.

“We are expected to be the independent guardian of EU citizens’ financial interests, and to promote accountability and transparency.” The current annual EU budget amounts to more than €130 billion.

The court is also expected to follow budget implementation closely, assess specifically each major area of EU activity and see the budget is applied in a legal manner as per EU laws and financial regulations. It must also be implemented in efficient and effective ways that make economic sense and which reach the envisaged objectives, he said.

In his 20-year experience as minister, Dr Galea had the opportunity of implementing budgets year after year.

“It is our job to see that the European Commission, its departments, institutions and member states are implementing their EU budget in the different areas effectively.” The Court of Auditors assesses audit trails, whether objectives are being reached, and if not, why.

It is a whole continuous exercise, he explained. All details will be compiled in reports and presented to the European Parliament and European Council, which then decide whether to give the Commission a good certificate or not.

In 1999, the European Commission, presided over by Jacques Santer, had resigned after the Commission as a whole was found to have lost political control over the use of community funds and staff appointment.

The local National Audit Office is the Court’s main partner. Dr Galea will also be representing the court in Malta. He will have opportunities to discuss the implementation of the European budget for Malta both with the National Audit Office and in Parliament with the Public Accounts Committee.

Dr Galea has “mixed feelings” about leaving for his new post because he was involved in a process of reform within the parameters of the House Select Committee.

“I will no longer be the midwife of this process,” he said in a tone of regret.

He described the potential reform that ought to start as “the next phase of Malta’s political development, an evolution of politics and institutional framework”.

He believes the opportunity created by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, when in July 2008 Parliament unanimously approved their proposal to set up the Select Committee, giving it wide Terms of Reference, must be followed up attentively with constructive dialogue and a creative approach without fear to change what is necessary. Dr Galea thinks this may give young people and future generations better institutions to assist them in shaping their destinies in full respect and enjoyment of liberty, democracy, justice and fundamental human rights.

The committee’s work was still in “embryonic form”, but it had the potential to develop if the committee members had the necessary political will and were inspired by their leaders. He notices a huge difference in the political atmosphere of this Select Committee when compared with previous committees.

While controversies will continue, and were vital, the general atmosphere was calm and he feels both sides of the House were in full control of their respective groups. Other political movements, like Alternattiva Demokratika, also have a contribution to make. Controversy no longer has the antagonism of people who were ready to attack each other all the time, he said, and the Committee was able to tackle national issues, including those of a constitutional nature.

Dr Galea firmly believes the Constitution needs to be updated in several aspects.

“The Maltese Parliament needs a substantial reform to truly become the highest institution in the country,” he said.

The Constitution of Malta will be 50 years old in 2014 and the country has completely changed since then. Our democracy, fundamental and human rights, governance and EU accession, all developed under the current Constitution. People may argue that it has worked so far and should therefore not be changed. But Dr Galea believes its mission statement should be updated; checks and balances between institutions should improve, as should the Broadcasting Authority; the clause about non-alignment in the context of a world divided between two main super powers needs to evolve, while the electoral system can be further refined, among several other matters.

Dr Galea pointed out the general media and broadcasting situation in Malta needed to change drastically and urgently. It must help society elevate itself holistically in terms of education, information and entertainment for it to be able to make the best judgement in common interest. This must be an integral part of this legislature, he believes.

Nonetheless, Dr Galea expressed his high opinion of the Maltese Parliament where parliamentarians agree on over 80 per cent of the laws it passed. Although MPs from opposite sides did not agree on certain principles, they discussed details and many laws are improved at committee stage.

“While we all have our shortcomings as all other human beings, MPs come from diverse backgrounds and reflect society well.” Louis Galea believed MPs were “dedicated”, “clean”, “committed” and “intelligent”.

MPs were doing their utmost even though Parliament needed more tools. Our MPs are part-timers with no human resources to support them and their remuneration is also very low. “In spite of these limitations, Parliament had managed to transpose all EU laws and Malta had become an EU member state,” he said.

He emphasised that controversy was generally sane and very necessary. Yet we do not have enough of in-depth controversy.

“Controversies are only laid to rest in cemeteries,” he said, while pointing out he would like to see much less “propaganda”, “spinning” and “soliloquies”, and a more “informed”, “objective” and “intellectual” debate on fundamental issues affecting socio-economic change.

“We seem to have a lot of superficial controversy which blocks substance,” he said.

Lack of resources meant that in practice the country was holding Parliament back from truly being the highest institution in the country. The Select Committee was therefore to find the right formula and mechanism to reach this aim and Dr Galea hopes the new Parliament building will also bring with it the opportunity to renew the institution itself.

A number of particular moments in Dr Galea’s 40-year political career left their mark. The darkest moments, which can never be erased, were the murders of Karin Grech and Raymond Caruana.

Karin Grech, then 15, was killed by a letter bomb in December 1977 at the height of an industrial dispute between the government and doctors. Karin Grech’s father, Prof. Edwin Grech, had continued to work at St Luke’s Hospital.

Raymond Caruana, a 26-year-old Nationalist Party activist, was murdered at the Gudja PN club opening in 1986. Again, no one was ever convicted of the murder.

“Society must solve these cases or it can never be at complete peace with itself,” Dr Galea said.

On a positive note, Dr Galea recalled the 1977-1987 period when he was PN secretary general.

“Those were historical moments for PN.” Tensions in politics were very bad at the time but they put Maltese people to the test and society emerged from them stronger than ever before.

“We became more democratic, learnt to treasure liberty and justice,” he said.

It was also a time of great challenges and opportunities for PN, during which it developed and generated a total transformation in the country.

“It was such a historic time which resulted in nearly 25 years in governance”. This work was of great satisfaction because Dr Galea had been part of a formidable team and had had the privilege to empower so many people.

With regards to the Speaker role, and whether he believed Malta should give political powers to the person in the post, as was the case in other European countries and particularly in the US, Dr Galea believed the Speaker must be impartial but not apolitical.

Although the Speaker does not actively express himself in Parliament, he has a very important political role to play.

The Speaker has an important voice and can be crucial in certain moments. Moreover, a lot of work is carried out behind the scenes and the Speaker must be effective in reciprocating the trust Members of the House had shown when electing him.

Dr Galea was elected with a unanimous vote and has sought to lead Parliament in an “effective”, “impartial” and “just” manner by elevating himself above partisan politics.

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