Updated Thursday 10:20am

Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill on magisterial inquiries to the next stage of the legislative procedure.

It also voted in favour of a motion praising the government's work to tackle inflation and the final reading of a bill on drug reform.

The magisterial inquiry bill, which will now move on to the committee stage, has faced backlash over two issues. 

Should the bill become law, citizens will no longer be able to directly request a magistrate to open an inquiry but will first have to approach the police. If the police do not take action, citizens can then take their case to a judge, who will decide if an investigation is merited.

Secondly, the amendments will require more proof to open an inquiry.

31 PN MPs vote against drug reform law

Meanwhile, parliament on Wednesday greenlighted a drug reform law despite the 31 Opposition MPs voting against it.

Under new legislation spearheaded by the justice ministry, former inmates caught in minor drug possession while incarcerated will not have to return to prison if found guilty.

The reform also proposes the possibility of having trials without a jury for those accused of drug trafficking.

Any case that carries the possibility of a life sentence - which drug trafficking does - is required to be heard before a jury. However, in practice, a life sentence has never been handed down for trafficking charges.

Cost of living motion

A third parliamentary vote considered a motion first put forward by the Opposition on the cost of living.

The motion originally stated that inflation in Malta was the government’s fault.

The motion also demanded several measures to curb the cost of living, including not taxing Cost of Living Adjustments, tax credits for small and medium-sized businesses, and a national fund to support import-export businesses.

The PN motion also called for a change in the country’s economic model “that is not based on uncontrolled increases in the population but on fostering new and innovative economic sectors that offer better-paid jobs for Maltese and Gozitan workers”.

The government, however, presented an amendment that completely removed the Opposition's text and instead praised government policies on inflation.

It was the government's amendment that received 40 votes in favour on Wednesday. The PN's 31 deputies voted against it.

'Government serves own interest; we work for you' - PN

Reacting to the session in a press conference outside Parliament, the PN said that while the government had used it to “serve their own interests”, it had gone to Parliament with motions to ease the electorate’s “burdens”.

The party said that while it had voted in favour of proposals reducing the financial strain on people, Robert Abela and his “allies” had attended to "rid themselves of the burden of potential investigations into their own shortcomings” - in reference to the magistrial inquiry reform bill.

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech stressed that contrary to the government, his party was on the side of the electorate. Photo: PN.

Speaking outside Parliament, PN leader Bernard Grech said Abela’s actions “continue to push Malta further down the corruption index” while charging the bill of “weakening the tools used to fight corruption.”

He stressed the party was “on the side of the people,” noting that almost double the number of PN MPs spoke during Parliament during the bill’s second reading compared to Labour’s.

“Since the very beginning, the Partit Nazzjonalista... has resisted this reform and will continue to do so in the next stage of the parliamentary process,” he said.

Grech accused the government of having “no electoral mandate” to introduce the law, which he said it was only doing to “protect corrupt politicians and their accomplices.”

“It is acting this way because it knows that inquiries into 17 Black, Vitals and Steward, the Panama Papers, and Electrogas would never have taken place if these legal changes had been in effect,” he said.

The Opposition leader said his party would repeal the law should it take office, retaining provisions granting new rights to victims and strengthening those provisions with other laws.

He said that while the government had gone to Parliament to “take from the people”, the PN had presented measures "aimed at reducing the burdens that so many are carrying, but not those in government, who are living a completely different reality.”

“The people deserve a government that is there to address their problems and support them, not one that seeks only to protect itself and corrupt politicians,” said Grech.

“While Robert Abela and his allies are only interested in solving their own problems, the Partit Nazzjonalista is working for you.”