Politics
Labour dismisses pairing agreement for MPs
by di-ve.com - editorial@di-ve.comPolitics -- Sunday, February 01, 2009 -- 14:05CEST
The Prime Minister can forget any pairing agreement in Parliament, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said to a standing ovation at the end of the PL’s annual general meeting on Sunday.
Dr Muscat said that such an arrangement, where opposition MPs are paired to government MPs and do not vote when the latter are abroad on official business, could not be considered in an environment of arrogance, exemplified by government’s motion to change Parliament timetables.
During his speech ending the meeting, the Labour leader also called for Finance Minister Tonio Fenech’s resignation, following his actions concerning the announcement of layoffs at ST Microelectronics. Mr Fenech said that ST had no plans for layoffs in Malta, less than a day before these were announced by the company.
Dr Muscat described the Nationalist government as arch-conservative, constantly dragging its feet on issues which he said brought shame to the country in Europe. He pledged that a future Labour government would be radically different in its operation, calling the opposition party the natural choice for progressives and liberals.
Deputy PM Tonio Borg’s statement that the PN is not liberal only served to expose this fact, he said.
Concerning political party operations, the Labour leader called for political parties to be publicly financed, stating that the electorate would then know that it is “voting for Joseph Muscat, not some contractor”. He expressed scepticism at thousands of euros he said would be collected in a single coffee morning organised by the PN.
He also called for discussions on electoral laws, saying that Labour would back a system of embassy voting, and urged for the renewal of all national ID cards by next year.
During his speech ending the meeting, the Labour leader also called for Finance Minister Tonio Fenech’s resignation, following his actions concerning the announcement of layoffs at ST Microelectronics. Mr Fenech said that ST had no plans for layoffs in Malta, less than a day before these were announced by the company.
Dr Muscat described the Nationalist government as arch-conservative, constantly dragging its feet on issues which he said brought shame to the country in Europe. He pledged that a future Labour government would be radically different in its operation, calling the opposition party the natural choice for progressives and liberals.
Deputy PM Tonio Borg’s statement that the PN is not liberal only served to expose this fact, he said.
Concerning political party operations, the Labour leader called for political parties to be publicly financed, stating that the electorate would then know that it is “voting for Joseph Muscat, not some contractor”. He expressed scepticism at thousands of euros he said would be collected in a single coffee morning organised by the PN.
He also called for discussions on electoral laws, saying that Labour would back a system of embassy voting, and urged for the renewal of all national ID cards by next year.
