Nationalist MP Franco Debono told Parliament yesterday that he was a convinced Nationalist who firmly believed in the party's creed, but the party needed to find its soul by bringing about much needed reforms to strengthen democracy.

Speaking during the adjournment in Parliament, he regretted that the House Business Committee had not yet set a date for debate of his motion on reforms of the justice and home affairs sectors, even though the motion was presented in November.

With a date having been set for an Opposition motion which was tabled a month later, he would have expected that his own motion was also brought up for debate, Dr Debono said, more so as it was a positive motion which only made proposals for reform.

Furthermore, with the term of this legislature now nearing its end, it was essential that parliament updated the electoral law and enacted a law on party funding. In this context, Dr Debono urged the Speaker to inform GRECO (The Council of Europe committee on party funding matters) about his legislative proposal.

In was inconceivable that the country was heading for a general election with a cap on spending by election candidates which was seen inadequate as far back as 1995, during the Galdes Commission deliberations.

Malta, he said, was practically the only country in Europe with only two parties in Parliament. The democratic process, he said, needed openness and not 'suffocation'.

It was equally inconceivable that,  Malta and Albania were the only two countries in Europe without a law on party funding. He had proposed a motion to remedy this situation, but it too had not been presented for debate in the House, Dr Debono said.

In his address Dr Debono also reiterated his calls for reform of various areas, such as to separate investigation and prosecution functions in the police, to separate the role of inquiring magistrates from those who sat in judgement, to update the law on legal aid, to improve the rights of suspected persons during interrogation, to improve the conditions of the judiciary, to reform the Standing Orders of Parliament, to review the role of the Attorney General, to set up a Drugs Court and to consider the creation of a Supreme Court.

Dr Debono said he regretted that this government, while admitting to some mistakes, had then opted to send its ministers on house visits, when their duty was to rectify matters by bringing in much needed reforms to strengthen democracy, which was at the heart of how this country functioned.