Prime Minister Robert Abela launched a tirade directed towards Opposition leader Bernard Grech on Wednesday evening after the PN head declared that his Nationalist Party intends to vote against the constitutional reform being discussed in Bill 134, which affects several aspects of the judiciary.

Grech reasoned that the PN is taking a stance for several other pertinent issues to be added into this discussion, and that it has had enough of the government proposing "fragmented" amendments while several other important discussions that could be included in this Bill remain shelved.

This occurred in the parliamentary debate of this constitutional bill, during its Second Reading, prior to it being voted through to the next stage of the legislative process. Bill 134 received 41 votes in favour and 32 against - split by political representation.

Speaker Anġlu Farrugia clarified that a two-thirds majority is only necessary for this Bill to be enacted - since it features constitutional amendments - after its third and final reading.

After Grech's intervention, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that Grech is stomping his feet, displaying severe inconsistency on behalf of the Opposition in his stances, and is acting like a "tough guy" to the judiciary in his actions.

PM Abela and fellow Ministers lambasted Grech's and PN's stance as politicising optimisations that were suggested for the judiciary by the members of the judiciary themselves.

Furthermore, he told the House that in this described act of stubbornness, the PN Parliamentary Group is set on undermining the judiciary's voice by politicising this Bill.

Abela said he was seriously baffled at how the Opposition has decided to vote against such "important and neutral proposals," noting that these legislative proposals will only benefit the people once enacted.

The Prime Minister said that "there is no justified reason" not to vote in favour of the proposed constitutional amendments aside for "political revenge, because we are not bending the knee towards what the Opposition wants."

"This is one of the worst episodes on display that the Opposition says no to everything," the Prime Minister told the House of Representatives.

He said that since he was first appointed Prime Minister, several constitutional reforms have come to fruition, that what the PN is suggesting "goes against how constitutional amendments have been being enacted since Adrian Delia was still PN leader," and that voting in favour of constitutional amendments without conducting a "comprehensive and holistic reform" has never been an issue.

Defending the proposed amendments, Abela noted that the proposal to have three sections comprise the Constitutional Court, up from one nowadays, will increase the number of judges handling constitutional cases to seven, including the Chief of Justice.

He continued that the amendment to increase judges' retirement age to 70 years of age was suggested to the government by members of the judiciary through the context that five high-calibre judges - including the Chief Justice - are set to retire in the coming months. Hence, this proposal will avoid some of the country's top judges from retiring when several reportedly are still motivated to continue working.

"This won't make a single difference to me if you vote against this, but it will lead to intense delays in the court system - forcing thousands of people into waiting lists to have their cases heard," Prime Minister Abela said.

He also defended the proposal to implement a Commissioner to oversee the behaviour and standards of the judiciary, noting that this position does not impede "at all" the independence of this democratic pillar, and was also suggested to government by members of the judiciary.

Former Justice Minister Owen Bonnici too stated that the praxis of having a disciplinary body or such a person over the judiciary exists in some countries abroad, such as the United States of America.

Minister Bonnici stated that Grech did not present a credible argument in Wednesday's discussion and that his stance to vote against the presented constitutional amendments are based on "stupid reasons."

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard noted that the Opposition, following Wednesday's plenary, is standing "on the wrong side of history" as it is "holding the government hostage" in demanding that it enacts what it wants or nothing gets passed.

Bernard Grech's remarks

Grech told Parliament that his Nationalist Party intends to vote against the constitutional amendments relating to the judiciary brought forward by the Labour government, meaning that this constitutional reform is set to be stopped in its tracks once the Third Reading is concluded.

He described that "time and time again," the Opposition has closed one eye and collaborated with the government as separate amendments were proposed in the past and later voted in favour of by both sides of the Chamber.

However now, the PN is putting its foot down and is calling for a "comprehensive constitutional reform, not one that is fragmented," according to a party statement released on Wednesday evening. The Nationalist Party wants the President of Malta, Myriam Spiteri Debono, to lead this discussion.

"We are insisting that we want a complete reform with respect to the integrity of our Constitution," Grech said.

Grech said that to have such a comprehensive constitutional reform, other important matters should be included in this discussion, including the appointment and functions of both the Electoral Commission and the Broadcasting Authority, the implementation of the recommendations from the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry, reforming public broadcasting, making the right to having a natural environment as a fundamental right, the appointments of the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General, the ratification of Protocol 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the establishment of a Permanent Committee of Justice, and a "complete reform of the Standing Orders of the House."

"We need to have a serious discussion, rather than [push] cosmetic changes, as this government always wants to do, to target the crux of the issue," Grech said.

The Opposition leader expressed that he is "disappointed" with the government's behaviour after it "hastily" informed his side of the Chamber with this Bill with just a week in advance, as "it is facing deadlines it has long been aware of."

"Let's take the next step and grant the people a full and strong Constitution that honours our people, this nation, and democracy in our country," he concluded.