Civil society has an important part to play to ensure that democracy is not only exercised once every five years at the polls, Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli said this morning.

Dr Dalli was speaking at a conference, organised by the MCESD, on the contribution that civil society can make.

The Minister noted how NGOs had an important role in civil society and offered vast knowledge in the areas they specialised in. The MCESD, she said, was made up of representatives of employers, unions and civil society along with the government. These stakeholders debated issues and came up with the best ideas on all that is important to the country.

Dr Dalli mentioned the online public consultation system introduced by the government early during this legislature, which gave the public access to draft bills, white and green papers and other material. This system had not only led to an improvement in social dialogue but was also ensuring that every law that was debated in Parliament was also up for discussion at all levels of society.

MCESD Chairman John Bencini said the authorities today recognised the importance of civil society much more than before. The voice of civil society had been strengthened thanks to the sacrifice of many volunteers, he said.