Citizens have been requested to put forward suggestions for strengthening the election system with a committee chaired by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. In my view:

1. The President and the Prime Minister should serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.

2. There should be no time bar for the prosecution of candidates or elected members of parliament who are suspected of, or publicly admit to, spending above the set limit for election campaigns, and these should be as actively hounded as ordinary taxpayers, (even those deceased) are by the Inland Revenue.

3. That active measures are taken to implement the neutrality clause in our Constitution in the practical unfolding of Malta’s foreign policy by recognising diplomatically those territories involved in disputes with other political entities, even if said territories in dispute are not recognised by the United Nations or the European Union. A case in point are the Basques who have campaigned for years for an independent state. These too should be invited to send one of their representatives beholden to non-violence to visit these islands even if he or she cannot promise as yet any economic advantages, as the Basque country hasn’t yet been granted statehood.

G. Bonett

MARSALFORN