Partit Demokratiku wants parliamentary surveillance of financial services and gaming regulatory entities

The Democratic Party (PD) on Saturday morning presented the Speaker of the House with a motion for the setting up of a permanent committee for the surveillance of entities regulating the financial services and gaming sectors.

Addressing a press conference, party leader Anthony Buttigieg, who was accompanied by deputy leader Timothy Alden and PD MP Godfrey Farrugia, said that such a committee would ensure increased transparency and accountability.

“We can show entities outside the country that we are insisting on regulation and transparency in these sectors,” Butigieg said.

He also claimed that a direct EU intervention was not needed in Malta, adding that the country had the necessary human resources and capabilities to ensure accountability.

The committee’s roles would include the power to investigate and analyse the capital expenditure of the relevant authorities in the field, Buttigieg said.

It would also have the role of investigating and implementing practices of good governance both internally and externally while also looking to strengthen cooperation and collaboration with international entities.

Furthermore, he said high ranking officials within entities falling under the committee's purview, would be called up to declare and explain information regarding their work.

Despite occupying a watchdog role over these entities, the proposed committee would also discuss and analyse the impact of decisions taken by the government, the European Union and other relevant institutions in the sector, while recommending actions to be taken in instances where the relevant authority does not act in line with international requirements.

To ensure proper enforcement, the committee would undertake regular inspections and site visits to guarantee effective and professional supervision.

The bill comes in wake of party members’ meeting with MEP Anna Gomes last week, with Buttigieg adding that both sectors would benefit from the added credibility of having parliamentary oversight.

The PD said that it was proposing that a majority of the committee’s members be from the government side, with a chairperson form the Opposition benches.

“Malta needs to take a quantum leap in good governance,” Buttigieg said. “This is long overdue, especially in the current situation where there is local and international concern regarding the management of our affairs, particularly of key economic sectors.”

He said that rather than simply criticizing and gaining political capital from the current situation, the party was proposing a set of concrete proposals it believed would benefit the nation as a whole.

Butigieg claimed that this was not a half-baked solution, insisting that all relevant experts in the field were consulted.

“This is an excellent opportunity for the parties in parliament to work hand in hand towards a collective result. This is an example of a positive opposition that proposes a positive alternate,” Farrugia said.

The private member’s bill was presented by Godfrey Farrugia and Marlene Farrugia, the party’s two MPs.