Malta's next democratic step must be institutional reform, Speaker says
Anglu Farrugia tells incoming MPs that respect for Parliament "must be absolute"
Respect for Parliament "must be absolute" and the country's next democratic step "needs to be institutional", House Speaker Anglu Farrugia said on Friday as he urged incoming MPs to raise standards in public life.
Farrugia used Friday's Sette Giugno commemoration to urge incoming MPs to treat Parliament with greater respect and responsibility, warning that absenteeism, excessive partisanship and superficial debate fall short of the standards expected in a mature democracy.
Days before the new legislature is sworn in, Farrugia insisted that “respect toward this institution must be absolute”.
“Not a formality. Not a decoration. Not merely beautiful words to fit an occasion, but a moral, constitutional and national duty,” Farrugia said.
He added that the next step “needs to be institutional” as he called for a Parliament that does not regard its Standing Orders as “relics” but as “living tools that must be updated so that its work may become clearer, swifter where necessary, and deeper where the country demands seriousness.”
“We need standing committees that are not merely names on paper, but laboratories of scrutiny, knowledge, and solutions. We need more pre-legislative work, more genuine public consultation, more impact assessments of laws, and more follow-up so that laws are not merely passed but measured in the lives of people,” Farrugia said.
He also said that the Parliament should speak the language of younger generation “without losing its dignity” as he urged it to engage “more boldly” in civic education, in meetings with students, in technology, artificial intelligence, and accessibility for persons with disability.
“The Parliament of the future should be open, but not vulgar; modern, but not superficial; close to the people yet always dignified.”
He listed the achievements of the 14th legislature which saw 459 sittings of the House, around 36,000 parliamentary questions made, 90 rulings delivered by the Chair, 551 committee meetings, 179 Bills presented of which 161 became Acts of Parliament, and 471 motions including 46 private members motions.
However, he pointed out Parliament should “serve as an example through its work” as he insisted there is no space for unjustified absenteeism or words that “wound more than heal”.
“Where there is unjustified absenteeism, where committees are not given the life they deserve, where words wound more than heal, where partisanship conceals the truth, where the speed of media replaces the weight of argument – there we must say: NO!” Farrugia said.,
“This is not the Parliament worthy of a mature Republic. This is not the standard the Maltese people should expect.”
He urged the incoming Members of Parliament who are about to take their seat in the House to remember that “progress should not make us arrogant; it should make us more responsible”.
“If we have an autonomous Parliament, then it should be a Parliament that works with greater efficiency. If we have broadcasting and transparency, the debates should become more serious and less theatrical. If we have standards in public life, they should be respected not only when convenient, but particularly when it is difficult to do so,” he said.
He added that more women and greater representation in parliament should not just be statistical “but a real change in our political culture”.