Over the past few years the government has used existing laws, which served the public well in the past, to seize more power than one would expect in a normal democracy, Opposition Leader Adrian Delia said.

 "When with exaggerated power you add corruption, you'll have a recipe which results in the worst political reality," he said, as the Nationalist Party published their Constitutional reforms proposals.

"This is exactly what we have seen happening in our country over the past six years."

Delia said that the "proposals being made are solely being proposed in order to ensure that no one in our country has absolute power, and that the institutions serve the people and not just the government of the day. In addition, we are doing this because we believe that the principles of democracy should never be touched."

PN MP Chris Said spoke more in detail about the proposals made by the Nationalist party, and said that "such proposals ensure that we have a wide range of power which is not concentrated in the hands of the executive and in the hands of the Prime Minister. We want to ensure that the rights of the public are protected in our country."

"The first proposal involves that the President of the Republic should no longer be appointed by the majority of the members of parliament but should be appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of parliament in order to be able to hand over certain powers," he said.

In addition, "we are proposing that the constitutional bodies which include the employment commission, the broadcasting authorities, the electoral commission and the public service commission should have their members appointed on the recommendation of both opposition leader and the prime minister by the President," he said.

"The chairpersons of these constitutional authorities - who play an important role in the democracy of our country - should be appointed by two thirds of the Chamber rather than being appointed by the Prime Minister." He added that if an agreement is not reached "the chairpersons will be appointed by President of the Republic solely on his discretion."

Another proposals involves "any citizen or non-governmental organization can launch court proceedings to attack a law that goes against the constitution without the need to prove a personal interest," Said highlighted.

In relation to anti-corruption proposals, Said proposed that "an anti-corruption commissioner should be appointed who has the power, tools and the right to initiate proceedings in court in cases of corruption. The police must abide by his orders, and once again he is to be appointed by a two-thirds of the chamber of representatives."

Said continued by proposing that "the Attorney General and commissioner of police are to be appointed by two-thirds of the Chamber of representatives. There should also be a judicial review for decisions of the attorney general."

With regards to the members of parliament - apart from the issue of full-time and part-time MPs, Said remarked that "MPs should not have a position in government as a chairperson, director or adviser."

They also proposed that "a state council  be appointed including former presidents, former Prime Ministers, former speakers and former chief judges who will have an advisory role," Said said.

Among the other proposals are that any SLAPP lawsuits abroad will not be enforced in Malta,

The PN also proposed that persons of trust or people in positions of trust be reduced to 4 in every ministry, private secretariat and the Parliamentary Secretariats.