Malta's institutional reforms must involve wide consultation, Council of Europe MP Pieter Omtzigt says

Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt has called on the government to ensure the institutional reforms process involves wide consultation.

The special rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the rule of law in Malta said that the country's refroms should be adopted following a wide consultation in society.

In a statement on Wednesday, he lamented that it appeared that the reform process was currently being undertaken behind closed doors with only the input of the government and Opposition.

"When I visited Malta in February, I was encouraged to hear from the government that an extensive package of reform proposals was almost ready for publication and would be presented to the Venice Commission for its opinion," Omtzigt said in a reaction to developments in the process of institutional reform in Malta.

"I have still not seen any text, but I have heard serious concerns about how the proposals were developed," he said. 

"My earlier report noted the scepticism of many in Malta, who feared that the reform process would be ‘handled behind closed doors between the leadership of the governing and opposition parties’. I concluded that this would be wrong, yet it is exactly what seems to be happening."

Omtzigt underlined that the Venice Commission would place great importance on the reforms being carried out following a broad consultation exercise.

"The [Venice Commission's] Assembly recommended that reforms should be ‘designed and implemented… through an open, widely inclusive and transparent process'," he said. 

"How the reform proposals are prepared, and whether they meet the clear requirements of the Venice Commission opinion, will affect not only their legitimacy and acceptance by the general public – it will also be a defining test for the international credibility of the Abela administration,” Omtzigt added.