Tonio Fenech’s plan to amend Gaming Laws through legal notices provokes fury among disgruntled Nationalist MPs, who warn the Prime Minister that, if ignored, they 'will not toe the line'
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has been forced to summon an extraordinary parliamentary group meeting next weekend, after his backbenchers threatened that they will not toe the party line unless they are given clear explanations into the motives behind the rush to pass amendments to the Lotteries and Other Games Bill.
A number of MPs have reportedly made a clear threat to government that they will not succumb to “bulldozing tactics”: or worse, to be asked to simply rubber-stamp legislation that has social considerations, not to mention weighty commercial implications.
The extraordinary meeting, which will be held next Saturday, was summoned on the rowdy insistence of a number of MPs, who were surprised to learn three weeks ago that the first item on the parliamentary agenda after the summer recess was in fact the proposed amendments to the Lotteries and Other Games Bill – and not, as some expected, the Opposition’s motion on the controversial contract for the extension of teh delimara power station.
MPs told this newspaper they were “shocked” by Tonio Fenech’s declared intention to pass the gaming law and subsequently publish the details in a legal notice, leaving nobody the opportunity to look into and discuss the details of the bill.
According to the MPs, this move is a blatant attempt to by-pass parliament and legislate with imposition rather than discussion, and reducing the country to a state of legal notices that is quasi-dictatorial.
Moreover, the same MPs have informed the Prime Minister that they cannot be expected to approve a law, and then have a legal notice replace or further amend it and not have any discussion about the new amendments.
They reminded the Prime Minister that they are dissociating themselves from such methods of governance, having already experienced a stunning legal notice that went unnoticed, and surprisingly increased the emissions limits for the power station.
MaltaToday is also informed that over the past two days, some 500 emails have been exchanged between Nationalist MPs, all of which have been also copied to the Prime Minister, who up until late last night had replied to none of them.
Backbenchers are being clear with Lawrence Gonzi and his deputy Tonio Borg, who is also the Leader of the House, that they want to know the contents of the legal notice before it is even published, as well as who would stand to benefit from such a rush to get the legislation passed, given that the Dragonara Casino tender is in the process of being adjudicated.
MPs were privately informed that the legal notice has already been prepared by a senior ministry official, and they insist that they want to see it.
The amendments to the Bill include strict operational conditions for gaming halls, and in practice would divert all gamblers to casinos, raising the MPs’ concerns on possible ulterior motives for the legislation.
MaltaToday is informed that next Saturday’s PN parliamentary group meeting will also include a discussion on a controversial motion presented by the Opposition over the controversial contract awarded to Danish consortium BWSC for a new power station in Delimara.
While it has been reported that the Prime Minister already informed his MPs that the motion will be brought for discussion before parliament immediately after the Auditor General concludes his investigations into the allegations of irregularities, a number of MPs have made it clear that here, too, they demand detailed explanations on the many “grey areas” that surround the €200 million contract.
The agenda for Saturday’s meeting also includes a discussion on the introduction of legislation on IVF, however MPs are considering the item as a ‘decoy’ to the real issues that must be discussed.
Nationalist MPs have publicly expressed their disgruntlement at the way things are being handled by the party, accusing the leadership of detaching itself from the people and of adopting a “siege mentality”.
In last Sunday’s edition of MaltaToday, MPs Robert Arrigo, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Jean-Pierre Farrugia and Jesmond Mugliett all expressed their disgust at the way PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier resorted to “personal attacks” on former stalwart Marisa Micallef who recently announced her ‘defection’ to the PL.
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