Sant attacks CNI

Opposition Leader Alfred Sant yesterday unleashed a fierce attack on the anti-EU movement, the Campaign for National Independence, as he pledged his party's support for the European Constitution.

The CNI, steered by former Prime Minister and ex-MLP leader Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, should stop being presumptuous by telling the MLP how it should vote on the Constitution, Dr Sant told supporters at a political activity in St Julians.

Being the "biggest" party in Malta, the MLP cannot abstain from voting for the Constitution in Parliament, as the CNI wishes. "When the Labour Party needed the CNI's help for the referendum and general election in 2003, it was not there," Dr Sant said.

Dr Sant said he would not accept criticism levelled at certain individuals in his party because they were purportedly expecting something in return from Europe.

This was even more unacceptable since some of those making such claims had themselves applied for a job with the European Commission but had been turned down.

He said the Labour parliamentary group adopted a stand in favour of the EU Constitution after deliberating for a fortnight.

The MLP executive last week also unanimously agreed to adopt the parliamentary group's stand. Dr Sant underlined the importance of the party's reservations on the Constitution which will be debated at the upcoming general conference. He said he would recommend a secret vote.

The reservations expressed were important since it indicated how a future Labour government would take the necessary measures to rectify any constitutional and neutrality breaches.

Dr Sant urged the Nationalist Party to continue the discussions on the electoral system to hammer out an agreement... within a week if the PN so wanted.

If Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi really had the goodwill to reach agreement, he should do his utmost to agree on a system of proportionality.

He accused PN general secretary Joe Saliba of putting spokes in the wheels after he decided to put a stop to the meetings on electoral reform.

"Joe Saliba has driven his party into a dead end and now he wants to do the same with the country," the MLP leader charged.

He insisted that the electoral districts cannot remain constituted in such a way as to breach the principle of proportionality between first count votes and the number of seats in Parliament.

Dr Sant underlined the importance that Gozo remains a single district.

Turning to another topical issue, the Labour leader accused the government of trying to deviate the public's attention by proposing the entrenchment of abortion in the Constitution. He questioned what led the government to take such a cue when all political parties were unanimously against abortion.

A change in the Constitution requires thought and the MLP has therefore commissioned a legal and political study on the matter.

Dr Sant joined the chorus of disapproval against the Children's Commissioner's objections to in-vitro fertilisation. Such fundamentalist views were reminiscent of the Middle Ages, he said.

The Opposition Leader criticised the government for wanting to sell Sea Malta at all costs, to the extent that it was even prepared to close it down.

He asked why the government failed to inject any investment in the national sea line while at the same time squandered money on Dar Malta in Brussels.

He also queried the government's plans to privatise Bank of Valletta, saying the country needed such "assets" to sustain work at a time of difficulty.