President George Vella felt he should again publicly pledge his commitment to ensure the constitutional convention is not “dominated or overpowered” by the political parties and that civil society “will have all the space and time it needs to make its voice heard”.
He raised quite a few issues in his Republic Day speech and, to his credit, did not hold back from reflecting the wishes and the fears of the people. All the topics the president referred to – the economy, irregular migration, the role of women, hate speech, journalism, education, among others – deserve topmost attention but three will be discussed here.
Opinion polls regularly flag the environment as a top concern and the president pointed out the growing realisation that it is of crucial relevance, especially in small countries like Malta.
He zeroed in on the building industry, calling for stricter safeguards so that construction would not hamper what he termed as the delicate balance between the natural and the developed environment.
President Vella then made a very categoric statement: “I do fear we are close to losing this balance.” A former environment minister who had also been politically responsible for the Planning Authority, he again appealed to both the regulatory bodies and also pressure groups to insist the rules are strictly abided by and that the national interest comes before that of the developer.
Protecting the environment must certainly be among the “critical challenges” the president spoke about and which, he said, the country must overcome.
President Vella also demanded justice for those linked to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. “Our country’s first and primary challenge is that, the soonest possible and within the requisite parameters of judicial correctness, justice is done with those found guilty of having, in any way, participated in the atrocious assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia,” the president insisted.
Anybody would know that, for one to be found guilty, one must first be arraigned and, even before that, is investigated. Serious doubts linger on about this, especially in view of reasonably-solid indications that people in the corridors of power could have been involved in the murder.
In fact, the president also insisted that allegations of criminality and dubious connections have to be investigated in the most professional way possible and those involved in the crime brought to justice without delay or favour.
It is all about good governance and the rule of law and it is now widely acknowledged – perhaps much more than ever before – that constitutional reform is a must.
Not all may be willing to agree with the president when he spoke about “the political maturity manifested over the past months” after referring to the recent unanimous decision by MPs to approve legislation of a constitutional nature.
The Venice Commission has expressed itself as being quite wary of this, going as far as saying that such unanimous approval could also be interpreted as proving the closedness of the political system and the fact that common vested interests bind the majority and the opposition together.
The Council of Europe’s constitutional experts have always insisted on the need of meaningful public consultation so citizens can truly enjoy their democratic entitlement to have a say in the shaping of the constitutional order.
That huge responsibility rests entirely on President Vella who will, no doubt, find civil society four square behind him.
This time, too, the people must win the day.