The Nationalist Party has hit out at plans by the prime minister to 'change the rules of democracy' on the appointment of a new commissioner for standards in public life.
The government and the opposition have been deadlocked on the selection of a person to take over the office from George Hyzler, now a member of the European Court of Auditors. The appointments needs to be backed by two-thirds of the House.
But on Sunday, Times of Malta reported that the government is planning to change the law so that it can force through its candidate by introducing a so-called anti-deadlock mechanism.
The Labour Party last week accused Opposition leader Bernard Grech of going back on his word when the PN objected to the government's nomination of former Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi to the post. It claimed Grech had previously agreed to the nomination in talks with the prime minister.
The PN said remarks by Abela that he wants to change the law on the appointment of the commissioner were 'irresponsible and undemocratic and aimed at undermining the Office of the Commissioner. This, it said, was a serious threat to democracy and the rule of law.
It insisted that the appointment should not be based on the choice of the prime minister or the ruling party but parliament as a whole, more so as the commissioner was expected to investigate complaints by both sides of the House.
"Robert Abela wants to be the one to decide who should investigate him or any minister of parliamentary secretary," the PN said.
It insisted that there are several persons who have the integrity and skill needed to serve in the position and Bernard Grech was ready to discuss the nomination of such persons.
Undermining democracy
In a separate statement, the NGO Republikka said changing the law on the appointment of the standards commissioner could undermine democracy.
The law as it stands rightly requires an agreement between the parties so that whoever is responsible for guarding the behaviour of MPs has the trust of everyone, it said.
"We encourage the government not to impose this anti-democratic measure," it added.
The NGO urged parliament to agree on the appointment of a suitable person for the post of Standards Commissioner.
PN has not explained its objection, PL says
Replying to the PN statement, the Labour Party said the country could have a standards commissioner enjoying the support of two-thirds of the House if the Opposition leader sticks to his word and backs the motion by the prime minister (for the nomination of the former chief justice).
To date, the PL said, the opposition has not said why it will not back the prime minister's nomination, The Opposition, the PL said, could not speak of democracy when it understood democracy to mean that either the minority's view prevails, or nothing.
Clarification: This article has been amended to clarify the position of Repubblika on the matter following an error in a previous version.