Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1034189
NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 SEPTEMBER 2018 MASSIMO COSTA THE government can never do whatever it wants, no matter how strong the mandate given to it by the electorate, public policy academic George Vital Zammit has said. Zammit, speaking at a con- ference on good governance in Malta and other European Un- ion countries, organised by Al- ternattiva Demokratika, said that the Prime Minister in Malta was granted too much power by the law. He emphasised that the separa- tion of powers and institutional autonomy and integrity are fun- damental principles of good gov- ernance, which are all too often not observed locally. "What we've seen recently, with the Planning Authority giv- ing the go-ahead for the db Pro- ject in Pembroke – despite the 4,000 objections – goes against the institutional autonomy prin- ciple," Zammit said. "I think the Prime Minister in Malta, because of the way the law is and through no fault of his own, is given too much power. He appoints or recommends everybody," he said. "When it comes to the sepa- ration of powers, the 2013 ad- ministration was one where all MPs were also given other roles – being appointed as authority chairpersons, CEOs, and so on – this is not on," he continued, emphasising that while some things might not be ille- gal, they can still be unethical or inappropriate. "Something might be legal, illegal, ethical or unethical and ap- propriate or inap- propriate… let's look at the decision by the PA CEO to hire a private jet to bring a Board member to Malta to vote." "This is not illegal, probably not unethical, but it is definitely in- appropriate. You might not tick all of the boxes, and might not be breaking any laws, but that does not mean it's OK to take a certain decision – it could still be unethical and inappropriate," he underscored. More prosperity can lead to more corruption Zammit pointed out that there have been substantial instances of serious shortcomings in the civil service, under successive administra- tions, over the decades. He said good govern- ance is important in the public service because it is in the interest of the state and of the people that the internal organisation is well governed, es- pecially since it runs on taxpayer money. "If the public service is not working as it should, this will also have an impact on soci- ety and on the way government delivers," he said. "And there is the issue of the responsible use of power. We are prosperous in Malta, but while power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely," he remarked. "The more prosperous we are, the more we might be inclined to engage in corrupt behaviour," he said, adding that the government could not act as it pleased, no matter the majority it obtained. Political system needs to change Academic Godfrey Pirotta con- veyed similar thoughts, stressing the point that the only way for Malta to move away from clien- telism was to change its political system. "Clientelism undermines the very notion of good governance," he said. "We have a political sys- tem which makes political pa- tronage an almost indispensable tool for winning an election." "A party needs to obtain 50%+1 of the national vote to get into power – the parties' whole pro- gramme is about how to get this majority, and the means will jus- tify the end for them." Describing the current politi- cal system as "one of the main sources of all our evils", Pirotta said that until we make a case for changing it, progress would not be made. "The civil service has been usurped by the political parties through legal means – the public service reform," he said. "The whole life of successive prime ministers is dedicated to maintaining power. So the public service is a tool for doing this." Pirotta went on to suggest that one of the ways of changing the system would be to do away with electoral districts, to reduce the "terrifying" competition between candidates – acknowledging, however, that this wouldn't solve all the problems. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt Political scientists call for greater checks on government if good governance is to prevail 80 • 50 • 11 • 7 • 9 76 • 61 • 5 29-09-2018 Draw No: 743 'Prime Minister has too much power' EMMA MUSCAT & BIONDO • VINICIO CAPOSSELA • TANGERINE DREAM • THE SELECTER TOPLOADER • BEHEADED • I AM WILLOW • DOMINIC GALEA JAZZTET • ETNIK A • SK ALD ISLAND ROOTS • MANA TAPU • THE RIFFFS • BASS CULTURE • GROTIUM • LADY LIZARD 12TH ODE • NOSNOW/NOALPS • TENISHIA • STIMULUS TIMBRE • CYGNA • FABRICK A IL-PUSE • MOVEO DANCE COMPANY • LATE INTER ACTIVE • NATE, FR ANK & ROSSI nottebianca.org.mt #NOTTEBIANCA18 THE BEST ONE EVER PLUS MANY, MANY OTHERS Joseph Muscat: Après moi, le déluge