Our Parliamentary Democracy is now weaker than ever and we are very concerned with the current situation, Civil Society Movement Repubblika said in a statement reacting to President George Vella’s decision to retain Adrian Delia as Opposition leader.
“Unfortunately, our Constitution seems to provide the opportunity to people in power to act outside basic rules of democracy and in defiance of common sense, ironically justifying their actions on the Constitution itself”, Repubblika said.
Repubblika stated that they are disappointed that the Constitution did not appear to provide sufficient clarity for a predictable outcome after a confirmed majority of Opposition MPs declared they lost confidence in the Leader of Opposition.
Yesterday, President George Vella said that he could not remove Delia from the post of Opposition leader, despite him no longer enjoying the support of his own parliamentary group.
“The President yesterday seemed to blame the Constitutional text for his failure to do what the Constitution appears to us to be demanding of him”, the NGO said.
The NGO pointed out that the “smooth running of the country” and “wellbeing of its people” requires the basic laws, and to rely less on the partisan loyalties or personal ambitions of people in office. “
“In place of a democratic republic we seem to have an oligarchy of interests made of a clan of people who protect each other and themselves,” the statement read.
Repubblika stressed that they are deeply concerned at how such an important decision was taken without any form of transparency. The NGO pointed out that the public had no visibility of the advice the President received, who had given it and whether he accepted that advice in the first place.
“This is one rare occasion where the Constitution expected the President to act independently of the government, and with good reason: he was choosing the person on whom lies the burden of mobilising and galvanising opposition to it. And yet such an important institutional choice was taken behind closed doors, in complete opacity and with no public accountability.”
“In place of a democratic republic we seem to have an oligarchy of interests made of a clan of people who protect each other and themselves”
The NGO highlighted that it is concerning that Parliament is currently debating increasing Presidential discretionary powers when the institution itself is ill-equipped to handle such decisions of national importance.
“We reiterate the view that such circumstances should be subject to due and transparent process, perhaps through an advisory Council of State that would have provided the President with dispassionate and impartial advice.”
Repubblika also advised that the President should not be the chosen by the government, so as to have a President with full transparency and not to be seen serving the interests of their formal political party.
“The President seemed more concerned yesterday with what he called ‘serenity’ rather than with the application of the law. The President has often described himself as ‘the guardian of the Constitution’ but yesterday he declared he was tossing away what the Constitution demanded he does, in favour of his political judgement of what is more desirable.”
Repubblika stated that if the President felt at liberty to ignore the text of the Constitution, he should have taken into account more than the need for ‘serenity’. “The only people being ‘serene’ in this context, are the government, serene in the knowledge that they are faced by a leaderless opposition, now weaker than ever as a result of this decision,” Repubblika said.
“Parliament is supposed to reflect and represent the will of all people. But members elected to it are not even entitled, as it appears, to choose who among them should lead them."
The group remarked that the President is not guarding the Constitution, but undermining it and that Vella has concluded that a decision on the appointment of a holder of the Constitutional office is not determined by constitutional means but by a political party that is governed by its own rules and not by members of Parliament.
Repubblika also highlighted that the election of members of Parliament is strictly regulated by the law to ensure universal suffrage, the restriction of corrupt practices, restrictions on funding for campaigning, regulated access to broadcasting and so on. “The laws that govern their election are enforced by independent constitutional bodies and candidates and members who breach electoral laws face criminal consequences.”
“But the election of political party officials is not regulated by any laws. A party leader is chosen by limiting suffrage with eligibility determined by the party itself. The electoral process is not monitored independently and there is no enforcement at law. Access to media- particularly party media-is not regulated and nor is the source of funding for campaigning for office the subject of any restriction or law.”
In the statement Repubblika stated that political parties get to decide and they decide there are no laws to prevent corruption.
“Parliament is supposed to reflect and represent the will of all people. But members elected to it are not even entitled, as it appears, to choose who among them should lead them. Instead that decision has been left by the President to a restricted club that is not regulated by the laws of the land. This is a usurpation of the democratic process.”
Repubblika stated that it has been made clear that the Parliamentary democracy has been crippled even more due to the President’s actions.