[WATCH] Muscat wants to remove MPs’ ‘peace of mind’ on political corruption

Adds Alternattiva Demokratika's statement at 2:47pm

Labour leader Joseph Muscat is vowing to remove legal prescription in cases related to political corruption for MPs, in proposals he unveiled today outside the House of Representatives related to governance.

Muscat accused the Nationalist administration of having shown a "lack of good governance" and pledged to introduce efficiency in the use of taxpayers' money, and more checks and balances if elected to power.

Addressing a press conference together with deputy leader for parliamentary affairs Louis Grech, Muscat said a new Labour government would remove the "peace of mind" for MPs who were protected by a 10-year prescription on crimes of political corruption.

"We will remove time-barring on political corruption and introduce an efficient law of Whistleblowers' Act," Muscat said. "We are not satisfied with the bill that is pending. The text proposed protects only those cases from when the law will be enacted, onwards. The law we want is to give protection to whistleblowers irrespectively of when the case takes place.

"Additionally, the current wording says that there is no automatic protection for a person involved in the allegation to come forward as a whistleblower. We will change this, to protect everyone."

Muscat also said he would not give MPs and ministers any salary increased in this legislature, saying he will set up a commission to propose a system for salaries for the prime minister and ministers.

Labour had opposed the salary increase for MPs and ministers enacted in May 2008 shortly after Lawrence Gonzi's re-election.

"Discussions should start in this legislature but that doesn't mean changes will come in this legislature. We do not believe it is good for someone to decide his own pay...

"The €500 salary increase cast a shadow on politicians that affected their image. The list of MPs' attendance in the House should be made immediately available online so that citizens can monitor attendance. This is important for accountability."

Without shooting down the option, Muscat said he felt it was not time to increase MPs' salaries in a situation where parliament becomes a full-time occupation for members of the House.

Muscat also said a new Labour government would introduce mechanisms to pay MPs only for their attendance in parliament, except in cases where they are sick or are on parliamentary business outside the House. Muscat said he would also put into effect a commission for MPs' standards as outlined in a White Paper unveiled back in August by then deputy prime minister Tonio Borg.

Another proposal of Labour's is to implement a recommendation by the Auditor General for the setting up of a code of ethics for chairpersons sitting on public entities.

He also said he would support an economic affairs committee being pushed by Speaker of the House Michael Frendo.

Meanwhile, Labour's proposals were positively welcome by Alternattiva Demokratika who said: "These reforms are fully in line with what happens in democratic parliaments in Europe."

Green Party candidate Arnold Cassola added that Alternattiva Demokratika is also proposing that the privileged full pensions of parliamentarians be removed.

"All Maltese citizens should have equal access to pensions. MPs should not have privileged pensions," Cassola said.

AD Chairperson Michael Briguglio, pointed out that AD also believed that the time has come for Malta to have full time parliamentarians in order to professionalize the institution. "

This could also help Parliament to pro-actively influence EU directives," he said.

Briguglio appealed for constructive dialogue and criticism during this electoral campaign, sating that AD is fulfilling this role, also through its own concrete proposals.

"If elected in parliament, AD will act as the progressive voice of reason, beyond destructive partisan pique," Briguglio added.