Parliament controversially approves constitutional amendments

The Opposition on Monday voted against a Bill to amend the Constitution, and hit out at the government for circumventing procedure to get the changes approved with a simple majority.

The Bill was moved by Justice Minister Jonathan Attard and provides, among other things, for the appointment of a standards commissioner for the judiciary and an extension of the retirement age of judges. The minister said the Bill had been agreed with the association representing the judiciary.

Nationalist MP Carm Mifsud Bonnici, for the Opposition, said in a statement before Monday’s vote that the Opposition wanted a comprehensive reform of the Constitution that would follow broad and effective consultation that involved civil society. The government, however, had gone ahead with a piecemeal amendment which did not have the Opposition’s support. 

The government, he observed, had even changed the procedure of the House to get its amendments through.

At the committee stage of the bill earlier this month,  the Opposition had protested that the government had shuffled some clauses of the bill, pulling them out of the sections of the constitution which required a two-thirds majority and putting them in sections that only needed a simple majority. That, it insisted, was unconstitutional and those clauses still needed a two-thirds majority to be changed.

Last week Attard moved a motion changing the voting procedure of the third reading of the bill – the final step of legislation before the president’s signature. MPs were thus required to vote on each clause individually instead of taking one vote on the bill as a whole. Only the approved clauses would be included in the final text of the bill.

The Opposition again described the move as unconstitutional, and on Monday Mifsud Bonnici said the Opposition still viewed the whole bill as needing a two-thirds majority. 

The House then proceeded with the voting according to the new procedure. The Opposition called a division for the vote on each clause. In all cases the vote was 41 government votes in favour and 31 Opposition votes against.

The final vote was greeted with applause from the government benches. 

The House on Monday also approved a motion on changes to the electoral boundaries. The changes were debated last week. The Opposition voted against.

Labour slams Opposition's 'extreme position'

The Labour Party in a statement after the vote, slammed what it described as the PN's 'extreme position' but noted that thanks to the procedural motion, the country would still have a commissioner of standards for the judiciary. This would enable members of the public to have effective remedies when members of the judiciary failed in their ethical standards. 

However, the PL observed, owing to the PN's opposition, some aspects of the bill could not be approved. As a result, previous complaints by ordinary people calling for the investigation of lawyers would no longer remain valid. It would not be possible to create new sections of the Constitutional Court, as the bill had proposed, and the retirement age of members of the judiciary would not be raised.  

The PL said the government would continue the reform process and ensure that the will of the majority was respected. It would not allow the Opposition to hold parliament hostage in an effort to block such reforms.  

An 'unprecedented act of institutional arrogance'

The PN in a statement of its own, said it strongly condemned the Labour government’s attempt to change Malta’s Constitution by twisting the rules to suit its own agenda, without any consultation with the public.

It said the vote taken in parliament was an insult to basic democratic principles and an unprecedented act of institutional arrogance by Robert Abela and his Government.  

It insisted that all the clauses of the bill required a two-thirds majority to be approved.

"This act constitutes a direct threat to the rule of law in our country and sets a dangerous precedent where a government could wake up one day and alter fundamental laws to suit its own political convenience."

The PN said it would continue to defend the integrity of the Constitution and called on the people to understand the seriousness of what was happening. "This is not just a political dispute. It is a matter of fundamental democratic principle – a principle this Government is dismantling bit by bit."

 The statement was signed by Carm Mifsud Bonnici, Shadow Minister for Constitutional Reform and Karol Aquilina, Shadow Minister for Justice.