The Nationalist Party wants the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability to become more independent.

When an issue arises, the CRPD should take the matters straight to parliament rather than through a Minister acting as its agent, PN deputy leader David Agius said.

The PN will be hosting a national conference ‘Ħudu r-riedni f’idejkom’, on 4 December, which is The International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Addressing the media, Agius said that the whole scope of the conference will be to discover ways in which persons with disabilities can be given more independence through research.

He said that although the Church and many NGO’s have done many good things with such individuals, which need to be acknowledged there is still a long way to go when it comes to giving persons with disabilities more independence.

Agius said that the party believes in different abilities and that is why they have sought to host this national conference, with the aim for the party and the general public to become more knowledgeable on the different ways accessibility and independence can be given to such individuals.

Agius added that what the party means by ‘take the reins in your hands’ is not that they have plans to leave persons with disabilities to go against very strong currents on their own but that they will be helping in different ways, such as financially, to help them reach the target goal for a more dignified way of living.

With the knowledge acquired through ‘Ħudu r-riedni f’idejkom’, the PN plans to adopt a stance where there will be room for more integrity through the more representation which will be given to persons with disabilities when taking important national decisions.

When adopting these integrative measures, they will be based on other successful European models.

Jamie Vella, president for the Nationalist Party for the Equal Opportunities Forum, said that the PN has clear intentions of creating equal opportunities for everyone.

Vella said that to see disabled persons move forward there needs to be a positive shift in their social life and education. Speaking on behalf of the PN, Vella said that they believe that without the needed accessibility and independence, disabled persons will not be enabled their full potential.