Criminal Lawyer Franco Debono’s Advice To Labour MPs: ‘It’s Your Job To Hold Government To Account’
Top criminal lawyer and former Nationalist MP Franco Debono has urged Labour MPs to develop a more critical attitude towards the government, arguing that it is their constitutional duty to do so.
“One of the greatest constitutional reforms I campaigned for as an MP, besides the split between the justice and home affairs ministerial portfolios, the right to legal assistance for arrested persons and the law on party financing was precisely that concerning the role of MPs,” Debono, who was renowned for his regular criticism of the PN government during his tenure in Parliament, told Lovin Malta.
“This is something that doesn’t and cannot be written down as part of any constitutional reform. It has to be practised daily by MPs themselves, who must behave as representatives of the people and not as party delegates.”
Debono commented after former PN president Mark Anthony Sammut yesterday urged Labour MPs to “stick with their conscience” and vote against the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri in an upcoming parliamentary vote calling for his dismissal.
Former PN President Mark Anthony Sammut addressing last night's anti-corruption protest in Valletta
“I know that it is hard and uncomfortable to go with your conscience and take a stand against your own colleagues,” Sammut said. “However, if you allow yourself to be led by a sense of duty, you will do it and you will continue working in the same [political] group afterwards.”
“It’s hard, but I assure you that no honoraria, no salary and no position in this world can hold a candle to the clean conscience you feel once you’ve done your duty.”
It’s very rare for MPs not to toe the party line in Malta, particularly in the Labour Party. Indeed, only Marlene Farrugia, now an independent MP, has ever voted against the party line since the PL was elected to government in 2013.
Standards Commissioner George Hyzler recently proposed that MPs who accept any contracts with the government or public entities should be disqualified from Parliament.
Standards Commissoner George Hyzler
“Democratic principles require that Parliament should be capable of holding the government to account, but Parliament cannot fulfil this role effectively if backbench MPs are financially dependent on the government,” Hyzler said in a report.
Debono backed Hyzler’s argument, stating that all MPs have the duty to hold government to account.
“That’s Parliamentary democracy,” Debono ended. “Government has to give an account for its actions to all MPs in the House who in turn have the duty to hold the government to account. It seems that finally, the major issues I’ve campaigned for in parliament ten years ago are coming of age and in fashion! Better late than never!”
What do you make of Franco Debono’s argument?
READ NEXT: Crowd Counter Estimates 3,000-3,500 People Turned Up To Valletta Anti-Corruption Protest
