The motion passed in Parliament last Wednesday – the last sitting before the summer recess – brought the government and the opposition in one rare moment of cooperation that should be welcomed by one and all.
The two sides agreed on the setting up of a Parliamentary Select Committee that will be discussing ways and means to tackle a wide range of issues of national importance in a bid to “strengthen democracy”.
It is rather unusual that the two sides come to terms on something, and the fact that they have agreed on an agenda and have publicly announced it is a step in the right direction. Whether they will eventually agree on the course of action to be taken on the various subjects that will be discussed is another matter, but at least they have agreed to talk about them.
The matter goes back to the weeks just after the election, when the government sought the opposition’s consent on a number of issues before Parliament convened. The opposition had then taken its time, pushing the government into taking what it said was a temporary solution with the appointment of Louis Galea as Speaker of the House of Representatives, while pairing arrangements remained pending. The Malta Labour Party did not accept the government’s proposal to name the Speaker from within its elected MPs.
Time passed, a new Labour leader was elected, but it was only a few days ago that Joseph Muscat, on behalf of the party, came up with a list of topics that he felt should be discussed, saying these were of a higher priority than the parliamentary arrangements called for by the government.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi immediately replied with another list, among them a request for Labour to say yes or no to the nomination of an Auditor General and his deputy, a request that was made in July last year but to which Labour had never replied. Dr Muscat immediately wrote back to accept the nominations – which were in fact approved by Parliament last Wednesday too – and also agreed to start talks on other issues to strengthen democracy, again putting parliamentary arrangements on the back-burner.
It took then another week to prepare a resolution, which was passed in Parliament in time before the summer holidays, and which sets the course which the two sides will be taking.
The various proposals that were made by the two sides on 7 July have been whittled down to six, on which there is consensus that they are of top priority. Others, such as a law about the functions of a caretaker government (proposed by Labour) and an agreement on a national holiday (proposed by the government) have been dropped.
The two sides have preferred to concentrate on what they think are more important issues, foremost among which is a law on the financing of political parties, a matter which has been in public discussion for years on end and on which an agreement should be found as quickly as possible.
The strengthening of the office of the Ombudsman and of the Permanent Commission Against Corruption is an issue that should not create controversy. A more difficult situation is expected in the discussion on the revision of the electoral law, with the smaller parties already claiming that they should have their own say in the matter.
The other matters involving parliamentary procedures do not form part of the six top priorities, but are still mentioned in the resolution that was approved in Parliament.
The select committee, with the Speaker as chairman, has up till the end of October to report the progress or otherwise in the talks that will ensue in the coming three months.
It is hoped that once the ball has started to roll, the two sides will not procrastinate unnecessarily in their negotiations. The country stands to benefit if an agreement is reached.