[WATCH] Bernard Grech says Opposition will not play ball on constitutional amendments

Nationalist leader Bernard Grech said the Opposition will not be voting in favour of minor amendments to the Constitution, but instead wants a wider reform.

“We want wider reform led and guided by the President of Malta with the participation of members of the Constitutional Reform Committee,” Grech told supporters at a Għargħur protest.

He reiterated statements issued by the party earlier on Wednesday, in which it said it would support a full and comprehensive reform of the constitution and urged the process begin without further delay.

During a meeting, the PN parliamentary group discussed the draft Bill published by government, which proposes several constitutional amendments. Amendments include a Commissioner for Standards of the Judiciary, and a broader ethical code.

The PN noted that the bill appears to have been rushed, with the justice minister only informally notifying the shadow minister for justice of its contents just days earlier, despite government having long been aware of the relevant deadlines.

Changes to the Constitution require a two-thirds parliamentary majority, and government alone cannot move forward the changes.

Addressing the protest, Grech said those who do not respect democracy will do anything, “including stealing.”

“They did not steal from the Nationalist Party (PN), they stole from the people of Għargħur,” Grech said.

In what the PN is a calling an anti-democratic move, last week, former mayor Helen Gauci lost a no-confidence vote as two Labour councillors and a Nationalist-turned-independent member of the same council voted in favour of a motion of no confidence against her.

The councillors tabled the motion because of suspicious expenditure under the mayor’s administration. This followed the departure of local councillor Francesca Attard from the PN, who is currently serving as an independent member of the council.

Earlier this week, the PN called a protest outside its kazin in the locality.

“We are here because we believe in the residents’ will. What they say is supreme, and everyone has to bow their head to what they decide,” he told supporters in Għargħur.

Grech went on to challenge Labour to call an election in the locality. “What are you scared of? It’s the people who decide.”

He said the PL’s “arrogance” will not be accepted.

“They did not accept the 62.3% majority, what makes you think they will accept the 50+1 determined by the Constitution for the General Election,” he told supporters.