Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/620229
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 DECEMBER 2015 3 News 20% o when spending over €50. President urges PL, PN to 'rise above partisanship' in constitution debate TIM DIACONO PRESIDENT Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca has urged the Labour and Nationalist parties to "rise above partisanship" ahead of a proposed debate to reform the Constitution. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposi- tion leader Simon Busuttil have both declared themselves in favour of constitutional reform. However, the process has stalled due to disa- greement over who should chair the reform committee. Muscat wants it to be chaired by Law Commissioner and former rebel Nation- alist MP Franco Debono, while Busuttil has insisted that it be chaired by the President as head of state. Speaking during an interview on Radju Mal- ta's Ghandi Xi Nghid, Coleiro Preca reiterated her stance in favour of constitutional reform, but refused to get dragged into the debate over who should be its chairperson. When asked by host Andrew Azzopardi about Busuttil's proposal, she called on the two major political parties to reach an agreement for the sake of constitutional reform. "The Constitution is our principal democratic tool but it must be updated so as to be rendered relevant to our current society," she said. "I urge our political parties to rise above partisan- ship and address this need for reform." 'Alternatives to Paceville needed for minors' The President expressed her worry at the congregation of children as young as 13 on the streets of Paceville in the early hours of the morning. "Instead of sleeping at night, they are seeking entertainment that is outside their age range," she said. "However, youths tell me that no en- tertainment alternatives exist to Paceville – a problem that we must address." When questioned about the infamous su- percar crash during October's Paqpaqli ghall- Istrina charity event, Coleiro Preca said that it wouldn't be right to go public with her opinions prior to the conclusion of an ongoing magiste- rial inquiry. "I hope that the inquiry will be published, as the people deserve to know exactly what went wrong and how such situations can be avoided in the future." 'Verbal bullying prevalent in Malta' Coleiro Preca also warned that verbal bully- ing is prevalent in Malta and appealed to politi- cians and citizens alike to adopt a more "ma- ture" style of communication. "Children and youths often tell me of their concern about ongoing global conflicts, and in the same breath say that Maltese people, including our political leaders, are constantly infighting," she said. "On a psychological level, they feel like by- standers of global conflicts, but don't find any peace of mind on a local level. "Why shouldn't we progress from this style of communication, respect other people's opin- ions and argue with dignity?" She said that Malta can use its small size and intertwined human networks to its advantage to create a peaceful society that could serve as a "global model". "What peace of mind our youth will have then; how they will be able to fulfill their per- sonal and societal aspirations." Coleiro Preca expressed her disappointment at the stagnation of female involvement in pub- lic life in the past 40 years, calling for an urgent increase in such female participation. "There are only seven women MPs," she said – miscalculating the number by two. "Women are participating in several sectors of life, but they are still an absolute minority in Parliament where decisions on the way the country is run are made." Second armed robbery for Naxxar shop A gaming shop in Naxxar suffered its second armed robbery in as many months, with police saying that the thief made off with a "sub- stantial amount of money". At 8pm on Friday, a man armed with a gun entered the Izibet out- let in Triq Hal Dghejf in Naxxar, and demanded that the employee present – a 26-year-old from Sig- giewi – hand over the shop's mon- ey. Only last month, an armed robber stole around €5,000 from the same Naxxar outlet, in what was the lat- est in a recent alarming rise of hold ups on gaming shops. MaltaToday reported last month that gaming shop operators have grown concerned about the police's inability to break up what they per- ceive as an organised criminal gang behind the series of armed hold- ups. One particular operator has suffered at least eight robberies in the space of five months. Following the growing number of hold ups, operators took their own precautions and inserted tracking devices inside money notes which would have enabled the police to trace the perpetrators and investi- gate the alleged criminal ring. However, this information was leaked to national broadcaster TVM, with the enraged operators now having to come up with other measures to locate the criminals and possibly help the police break up what they believe is an organised criminal gang behind the spate of hold ups.