If the Nationalist Party wanted to ensure that retired judge Lino Farrugia Sacco was impeached before his retirement, it could have launched proceedings as early as 2005, government MP Deborah Schembri said this evening.

Speaking during the parliamentary debate on the financial estimates of the Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government, Dr Schembri pointed out that the issue surrounding Dr Farrugia Sacco's decision to stay on as president of the Malta Olympic Committee even though he was a sitting judge had broken out at the time, and not when impeachment proceedings were actually started in 2012.

The impeachment proceedings were started after a probe by the London-based The Sunday Times which saw reporters in disguise offer €60,000 for rights to sell the MOC's tickets for the 2014 Winter Olympics games. Dr Farrugia Sacco and MOC general secretary Joe Cassar were covertly recorded as explaining how high mark-ups could be masked through "subtle" marketing techniques.

Following a series of appeals, and the government's insistence that these should be heard before impeachment proceedings resume, Dr Farrugia Sacco retired at the age of 65 last August.

Dr Schembri argued that by insisting that impeachment proceedings should have continued regardless, the opposition was seeking to "trample" the retired judge's rights.

Cases should continue if accused avoid the courts

In his own intervention, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici argued that "cowboy" defendants should not be allowed to delay court proceedings simply by failing to turn up in court, often causing witnesses to turn up in vain.

He said that the government has already proposed amendments which would ensure that in such cases, minor court cases could continue in the defendant's absence, stressing that the necessary safeguards would be in place to ensure that people's rights are safeguarded.

But he pointed out that while these amendments had been included in a bill which had been approved in its second reading, they were dropped after the opposition, led by former minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici, raised objections in committee.

Dr Bonnici said that he felt that such amendments should only be introduced if there was political consensus, and appealed to the opposition's justice spokesman - Beppe Fenech Adami - to persuade fellow MPs to agree to the proposal, stating that as soon as they did, he would sign a legal notice to bring it into force.

He also touched upon the criminal proceedings against him, in which he was found not guilty of negligent driving in a traffic accident which caused serious injuries to a motorist.

The opposition has harshly criticised Dr Bonnici's decision not to step down until the proceedings were concluded, stating that as a result, he had to be judged by a magistrate which depended on his word to become a judge.

But the minister argued that such insinuations were insulting to the judiciary, stating that while the opposition was free to criticise him, it should be more careful when it came to the judiciary.

"Our judiciary is made of people of substance, who are not afraid of issuing rulings which embarrass the government of the day, even the lower courts," Dr Bonnici said.

 

 

Funding of banana festival questioned

Godfrey Farrugia was the first government MP to participate in the debate on the financial estimates of the Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government, and in his address, he argued that the present government was helping to achieve progress in this sector.

As examples, he mentioned the plans to develop creative clusters to help start-ups in the creative sector develop and grow, as well as the budgetary allocation of €80,000 for the development of a carnival village. While he acknowledged that €80,000 was a relatively small sum, he pointed out that carnival enthusiasts have been promised that work would start on a cultural village for years, but nothing materialised until now.

He also welcomed preparations to gain UNESCO World Heritage Site status for Mdina and the Cittadella in Gozo, and noted that while the Education Ministry appoints a commissioner for UNESCO, other ministries - including the one responsible for culture - should do likewise.

But his assessment of the government's work in the field of culture was not wholly positive, citing the funding of the banana festival in Qormi as an example.

"I cannot associate the festival's theme with the locality, or even with the country," he pointed out.

Dr Farrugia also welcomed the fact that cannabis-based medicine - an issue he has lobbied in favour of - has been included in the drug reform being proposed by the ministry.

He noted that cannabis may not be a cure, but there was enough scientific evidence to show that when cannabis-based medication is used properly, it could alleviate the symptoms of certain illnesses, including cancer, and expressed his hope that cannabis-based medicines would be available in pharmacy shelves as early as next year. 

'Only PN' disagree with holding local elections every five years

In his own intervention, Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government Stefan Buontempo criticised the Nationalist Party's opposition to plans to hold local elections every five years in tandem with European elections, instead of holding elections in half of all localities every two years as is presently the case.

The PN had been strongly critical of the original plans, which would have seen all local elections postponed until 2019.

Mr Buontempo said that the PN "wanted us to decide not to decide," but added that the government's course of action was to consult, analyse and finally take a decision.

"Everyone but the PN agreed that local elections should take place once every five years, together with European elections: the only divergence was how to get there," he said.

The parliamentary secretary added that the government chose compromise by agreeing to hold next year's local elections as scheduled, but not holding those scheduled to take place in 2017.

In his address, Mr Buontempo also said that contrary to the previous government, the present government would not deceive councils through unsustainable schemes, stating that the government was still paying for ill-conceived schemes which were launched some a number of years ago.

The previous government, he said, was obsessed with launching scheme after scheme, rather than ensuring that whatever was launched was sustainable, and ended up encouraging local councils to enter into initiatives that they could not afford.

As a result, the parliamentary added, a number of local councils have been burdened with heavy debts that they are now struggling to repay.

Mr Buontempo also said that when the present government took office, local councils had accumulated some €22 million in debts among them, later noting that it was shameful to find the opposition blaming the government for local councils' debts, in light of the situation that had been inherited.

He added that after years of mounting debts, the government actually managed to reverse the trend and reduce local councils' total debt in 2013.