Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/228261
7 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2013 PN leaders to be elected by all paying members Nationalist Party widens future leadership votes to all party members as it launches statute revision process. JURGEN BALZAN FUTURE PN leadership elections will no longer be restricted to party councillors, but all card-carrying members will be eligible to vote for their leaders if proposed amendments to the party's statute are approved. The party yesterday launched the second phase of a consultation process on the revision of its statute. During a seminar held for the PN's executive council, the head of the internal commission for the revision of the party's statute and structures, Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech, presented a draft set of amendments. In a brief message to the executive, PN leader Simon Busuttil underlined the party's drive to democratise and open up its structures, adding that "the PN is sending a clear signal that it intends to return to being the people's party." One of the key amendments proposes the election of PN leaders and deputy leaders by all party members, following the creation of a General Convention which would shape and discuss the party's policies. The convention would include all paying party members and "serve as a forum Opposition leader Simon Busuttil in which members of the public, civil society and social partners are invited to participate in." To date, PN leaders are elected by the 900 or so party councillors which include MPs, candidates, party of- ficials and representatives of local committees, which often tend to be hand-picked by the dominant faction within the party. Following the catastrophic electoral defeat in March 2013, the party's grassroots pinpoint- ed the marginalisation of activists from the party's inner circles and the lack of new blood, as one of the main reasons for the party's demise. In a clear attempt to address the democratic deficit within its struc- tures, the PN is planning to open up its doors to increase female and youth participation. The proposed amendments include changes to the composition of the executive council, which would be made up of nine women and nine men. Moreover, the amendments to the statute also propose the inclusion of more women and young people in the party's sectional committees, which would in turn shake up the composition of the General Council. The committee led by Zammit Dimech also proposed the creation of new organs to "make the party more representative and enhance the party's inclusiveness in its structures and policy making." The new organs proposed include a movement for equal opportunities, a forum for professionals, a business forum, a college for councilors, a college for former MPs, a Gozo regional committee, a commission for the selection of candidates and a policy forum. The proposals presented today will be discussed further by the party and will be voted upon by the General Council set to convene at the beginning of next year. jbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt campaigner torted interpretation of freedom of expression, try to expose and impose their ego and individualistic interests to the detriment of the innocent." Grech also submitted that Vella Gera's work "was not in the public interest" and that witnesses Lino Spiteri, the novelist and former miniter; philosopher Profs. Kenneth Wain, writer Albert Gatt, anthropologist Ranier Fsadni, poets Maria Grech Ganado and Adrian Grima and actor Toni Attard – presented by the defence – were not court experts but expressed their subjective opinion. Vella Gera and Camilleri were acquitted on by Magistrate Audrey Demicoli, who noted in her judgment that the law did not provide clear definitions of 'pornography' and 'obscenity', and that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Article 208 of the Criminal Code had been breached. But most importantly, she observed that the defendants were exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression. The recipients of the Republic Day honour last Friday, pictured with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and President George Abela ing awards to distinguished individuals who have contributed in a way or another to the development of our Republic." He said he accepted the award with profound humility, saying he did not consider himself either "distinguished" or able to reach the heights of the men and women who led the struggle that resulted in the Republic: Manwel Dimech, Guze Ellul Mercer, Dom Mintoff, Agatha Barbara and the Dockyard workers "If the right wing of the country has been infuriated with my nomination, then I am confident that I am doing the right thing, and hence will not change the path that I have chosen." On his part, the best-selling author of Is-Sriep Regghu Saru Velenuzi said he was refusing the honour in the "name of a future where genuine, independent spirit is truly freed from the cage of partisanship, and in the name of those forces who fight the superficiality and mediocrity of this republic." Attorney General on honours committee Perhaps the weirdest quality of the Republic Day honours for Camilleri and Vella Gera was the fact that Attorney General Peter Grech, who had appealed their acquittal, sits on the honours' committee that nominates the awards. Grech famously submitted in the government's appeal of the verdict acquitting author Vella Gera Camilleri, pushing the line that "God is certainly bigger than the biggest of egos of even more famous writers." His lengthy 32-page appeal argued that Vella Gera had admitted writing his short story "on impulse" and "without any form of self-censorship". "He was free to write what he wanted without self-censorship. But the author must realize there are others living with him, whose ideas, preferences and tastes are unlike his; a society that must be protected, and its morality preserved. "And there's God above everything and above everyone, and God is certainly bigger than the biggest of egos of even more famous writers." Grech specifically quotes Vella Gera's statement to the court in which he says he wanted to give readers total immersion in his first-person monologue, narrated by a sex-driven man who treats women sordidly, "without any moralism, in the sense that I didn't include the voice of God saying 'look you're going wrong'." What would otherwise be interpreted as the absence of a conscience in the controversial character of 'Li Tkisser Sewwi', the Attorney General states in his appeal that Vella Gera exhibited "the apex of individualistic views to the detriment of the common good, that is trampled upon by those who, in their anti-juridical and con- COOKERY CARDS Maltese Cookery & Helu English Maltese by ANTON B. DOUGALL ANT 50% OFF when buying a set of 2 from THE POINT SLIEMA or you can visit www.tisjir.com €10 both