Government’s ‘sad response’ to the Exodus programme

Last week the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) discussed the rule of law in Malta.

Rapporteur Peter Omtzigt proposed, and the Assembly accepted, that a request be sent for the Venice Commission to look in to the Maltese judicial system. The Venice Commission is the international organisation tasked with upholding the rule of law and justice in Europe.

The government’s reaction to the unveiling of these facts on the Exodus programme on Saturday night has been both funny and sad at the same time, Alleanza Bidla said.

The prime minister rushed the minister of justice into his office on a Saturday, which is unheard of, to write an official letter to the Venice Commission — which, of course, doesn’t work on weekends — in order for the government to be able to issue a hasty press release locally.

The government spin doctors in their letter and the press release, try to give the impression that the Venice Commission investigation in to the rule of law in Malta is somehow happening on their initiative. It is not.

The Maltese PL Members of Parliament in the Assembly ridiculed the investigation stating that the investigation was biased and not credible. They failed and the process has now culminated in the Assembly's request for a Venice Commission intervention.

As was discussed on the program, the recommendation of the Assembly will damage the reputation of the rule of law in Malta. But, until Saturday’s damage control exercise, government media has been totally silent about these PACE investigations. And now the government media, towing the party line tries to persuade us that it’s the government that is taking the initiative.

This shows that neither the government nor its press live up to our ideals, not to mention the Council of Europe’s standards, of how the country should be governed. The next question to be answered will be whether the government will cooperate with, or try to sabotage, the Venice Commission investigation.

One thing is for sure, Alleanza Bidla and the Exodus programme will follow this investigation carefully.