Next month, Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco will retire. The Minister for Justice, Owen Bonnici, is now saying he is hopeful that legal proceedings against the judge will be concluded in time for Parliament to debate the impeachment motion. How very optimistic of the Minister.
Today is our last day in parliament before summer recess. Word has it that we will not be back before the new building is ready, and that might take till October. As Woody Allen put it, “hope is a thing with feathers,” but the Minister is not being hopeful is he?
This is so typical of this government. The Minister is insulting our intelligence. We all love fairytales but we are not fools.
Therefore the Nationalist Party is putting forward a challenge. Since Minister Bonnici means what he says, loves the law and believes in justice, the PN is willing to postpone the summer recess and debate the impeachment urgently.
The ball is in your court, Minister. Don’t just hope for justice. Work for it.
Genuine democracy
Last week, Simon Busuttil gave a speech in Parliament which was different from the usual political arguments on issues and controversies. He focused on the way of life we fought for many years ago and have taken for granted ever since. A way of life which Labour had suffocated back then. A way of life Muscat’s government is not showing much respect for now.
Democracy, transparency, liberty and respect are being constantly challenged by Muscat and his cronies. The examples given by the Leader of the Opposition depict this very clearly.
Our Prime Minister did not tell the truth in Parliament. After evading questions on Minister Konrad Mizzi’s wife, and the salary she is getting from the public coffers, he simply chose to lie.
Muscat hid her contract like he has hidden several others. The MOU with the Chinese Government goes back to when Labour was in Opposition. The Henley & Partners contract reeks of a pre-election agreement but the Government still refuses to publish the contract to banish all doubts. As for the management of public funds and public property, it is far from transparent.
Busuttil’s speech showed concern about many of the decisions which our Prime Minister is taking, decisions which show lack of respect towards not just the institutions of our country but also towards all of us. Prime Minister Muscat has donated a property worth millions to himself as PL leader. After doing so, he now wants to pass a law on party funding. How very convenient.
Muscat has appointed a judge who, until a few weeks ago, was the editor of his party’s newspaper. The Prime Minister is, once again, showing serious flaws in his decision-making. All this when this same Government has attacked the independence and effectiveness of the Ombudsman, after a series of decisions which have transformed the army and the police forces into a Labour Party club.
16 to 21
A few months ago, we had a very healthy discussion in Parliament. We reached consensus on giving 16-year-olds the right to contest and vote in the Local Council elections. We had a special session led by Jose Herrera, the minister responsible for local councils, with David Agius by his side. Youth representatives from all localities were present. There was an official photo with the La Valette statue in our capital city. It all looked good, didn’t it?
Muscat has now decided he can’t keep up with his pre election promises. Word has it that Muscat told his cabinet members, “We can’t keep up with all these requests for jobs, housing, permits, etc. Sod the local council elections. Democracy can wait. We will tell the people that we want to save money.” And he did. Sixteen-year-olds will just have to wait till they are 21 to vote and contest the local council elections.
The Parliament gave sixteen-year-olds the right to vote. Muscat, because he wants to avoid local elections, simply suspended their right to vote for several years.
Claudette Buttigieg MP – [email protected], twitter: @ButClaudette