|
Kurt Sansone
It has been a week of incessant explanations on Super One Radio and TV from various Labour exponents to show how the parliamentary hearing the prior week, into the purchase of Malta House in Brussels was a fruitful exercise that laid bare, Government’s weak defence of the Lm9 million splurge.
But below the surface and away from the obvious attack on their Nationalist opponents, the Labour exponents were reacting to internal party criticism that the Public Accounts Committee, chaired by MLP deputy leader Charles Mangion was not hard enough on those who gave witness in front of it.
And as if pressure from the grassroots was not enough, last Sunday Labour MP Anglu Farrugia described the PAC as a farce in comments he gave MaltaToday. Farrugia’s comments are believed to have caused a commotion within party structures.
The Labour MP and former police officer even went as far as saying “politicians cannot investigate and judge other politicians” because they may have “a conflict of interest.”
He suggested the creation of a judicial authority with ‘super’ powers to investigate and prosecute suspected corrupt public officials or officials responsible for the misuse of public funds since Malta became a republic in 1974.
Farrugia’s proposal was unanimously approved by the MLP Naxxar local club general conference on Sunday. The motion proposed by Farrugia states that one of the first laws to be enacted by a new Labour government would be that of creating a new legal structure with powers to investigate corruption and the misuse of public funds. The motion also proposes that the period a crime can be time barred is increased to 30 years.
The approved motion will now goes in front of the Labour executive for scrutiny after which it will be presented for approval at the forthcoming Party general conference.
It is unclear how the Party executive would take to the suggestion since it is proposing investigations into allegations of the misuse of public funds stretching back to the Labour administrations since 1974.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
|
