Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1055420
NEWS 5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 NOVEMBER 2018 .org your guide to going global WWW.TRADEMALTA.ORG REGISTER TODAY Would you like to export your products or services abroad? Are you a local exporter or investor interested in the international market? Are you looking for export assistance? TradeMalta.org is your one stop portal providing information on how to do so. receive export assistance learn about exporting discover international opportunities research your market connect with Maltese companies build your export capabilities Operational Programme I - European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 "Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges" Project part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund Co-financing rate: 80% European Union Funds; 20% National Funds KURT SANSONE A "steering committee" made up of Labour and Nationalist representa- tives is tasked with mapping out the road to constitutional reform, the Of- fice of the President said. The committee, news of which emerged last week, will not at this stage be proposing changes to the Constitution and the talks have been described as an "initial dialogue". "The remit of the steering commit- tee is to map out the process for the necessary dialogue as well as outline the consultation process that needs to be carried out," a spokesperson for President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca told MaltaToday. The President is chairing the com- mittee, which is composed of three representatives from each of the two major political parties. The PL rep- resentatives are Justice Minister Ow- en Bonnici, Reforms Parliamentary Secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli and former deputy prime minister Louis Grech, while the PN representatives are MP Chris Said, former European Commissioner Tonio Borg and Amy Camilleri Zahra. A first meeting was held on Thurs- day and announced through a press statement released by the Office of the President. Asked why the Democratic Party had been excluded from the steering committee, given it has two MPs, the President's spokesperson said "a pre- liminary meeting was held with rep- resentatives of PD and Alternattiva Demokratika". "The President has already met with AD and PD respectively and explained that at this point the steering commit- tee was merely conducting an initial dialogue, and this would eventually be opened further; this has to be an edu- cational process that includes a wide and diverse contribution," the spokes- person said. PD leader Godfrey Farrugia con- firmed his party had a meeting with Coleiro Preca, an hour before the steering committee meeting took place. "The President has since 2014 been calling on the major political parties to get together and initiate constitu- tional reform so I can understand that the initial brainstorming session will involve the PL and the PN, now that she managed to bring them to the ta- ble after nearly five years," Farrugia told MaltaToday. He said the PD, since its inception in 2016, had publicly campaigned for constitutional reform to happen and will do nothing to scupper the process. "But we will be involved, not least through our representation in Parlia- ment, but also before the groundwork of this committee is complete. PD MPs are duty-bound to participate and contribute positively. It is our belief that the constitutional conven- tion must proceed in a bottom-up ap- proach as it belongs to the people," he added. Constitutional reform has been promised by all political parties but an attempt after the 2013 election to set up a constitutional convention was scuppered after the Opposition objected to government's choice of former PN MP Franco Debono as co- ordinator. This renewed process at trying to kickstart constitutional reform comes as Coleiro Preca's term as President is nearing its end in April next year. It has to be seen whether anything concrete will come out of these talks, which the Office of the President has described as "still at the preliminary stage". "The President has always expressed her wish to see the necessary constitu- tional reform take place, as was prom- ised by political parties in their electoral manifestos. In her Republic Day speech, she had also made it clear that this should be carried out in a public and transparent way, and involve the entire country," the spokesperson said. Asked whether constitutional re- form will eventually be subjected to a referendum, the Office of the Presi- dent said that such a decision will be up to Parliament to decide. Constitutional reform PL-PN steering committee 'merely conducting an initial dialogue' President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca's term in office ends in April next year