Gonzi brushes off Labour’s parliamentary reform, ‘MPs are not schoolchildren’

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was less then impressed at a proposal by Opposition leader Joseph Muscat to pay MPs according to their attendance record in parliament, a practice employed inside the European Parliament where MEPs' per diem allowances are paid according to their attendance records in committee meetings.

"Attendance should not be the measure used to determine the salaries of MPs. Parliament is not a classroom," Gonzi told the press during a visit to IT company Computime, in Birkirkara.

Gonzi pointed out that MPs carry out other duties apart from attending parliamentary sittings such as meeting constituents, and added that MPs also do valuable work in parliamentary committees such as the social policy committee.

Gonzi failed to give a direct answer to questions from the press related to Labour's proposals for parliamentary reform, but the prime minister explained that MPs were part-timers: "Although we should consider a reform which would see MPs become full-timers, this was not the time for such a discussion because other current issues should take precedence."

Gonzi took exception at Labour's other proposals, retorting that the Nationalist government's own "concrete reforms" such as the introduction of Prime Minister's question time, and "space" for the Opposition to present its own proposals within parliament and have them deabted, were never taken up by Labour.

In a statement, the Labour Party reacted by saying that Gonzi's own reaction to its proposals meant that he "today rejected the need for more accountability for Members of Parliament."

"GonziPN's failure to agree to with Labour's proposal to pay MPs only for the Parliamentary sessions they attend shows just how out-of-touch he has become," the PL said.

Labour said it "would not have expected any better from a Prime Minister who gave himself and his Ministers a €500 weekly increase, then tried to keep it a secret. "

Labour added that the Maltese people "deserve better than this."

During his address, Gonzi stressted the importance of the ICT sector with regards to economic growth, job creation and education. He said a new PN government would expand scholarship schemes to post-doctoral studies, in order to encourage more students to advance their studies in highly-skilled sectors such as ICT.

He emphasised that the ICT sector is essential for Malta, adding that it has registered a growth of 3.2% over the past four years, and that it has absorbed graduates from University, MCAST, and even private training centers.

Gonzi also said that it is important to recognize that government schemes helped the ICT industry to prosper through workers' training schemes, which Gonzi said "are all the more essential in a fast-developing industries like ICT."