Malta House challenges PM to ‘get rid of clientelism at every level’
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Maltese.
The President of the House of Malta Marisa Xuereb challenged the Prime Minister Robert Abela to make the strong electoral mandate he received counts by seizing the opportunity “to get rid of the clientelism that exists at every level of administration public. “
Xuereb made the remarks at a meeting between representatives of the House of Malta, Prime Minister Robert Abela and ministers Silvio Schembri, Miriam Dalli and Clyde Caruana. As she congratulated ministers on their electoral success, she insisted they had their jobs cut out for them.
Getting rid of clientelism – clearly a long task due to its apparent appeal to large sections of the electorate – was the first priority Xuereb mentioned.
But she also insisted that the government needs to address the large number of people it employs directly or indirectly, and the need to address the lack of transparency and accountability in the public procurement process.
In addition, Xuereb stressed that it was up to the government to establish a clear political direction – and introduce significant reforms – in the environment, planning and education.
The government also needed to address the country’s reputation issues, insisting that “we need to become more credible, particularly on those issues that most concern the international community: money laundering, human trafficking. weapons and drugs, treatment of foreign workers, a passport scheme, and the way we relate to both Europe and third countries. ” As it did so, it recognized that the private sector had its own responsibilities for dealing with foreign workers, and that more enforcement was needed.
Xuereb recalled that Abela had promised to work and consult with the social partners shortly after taking the oath as PM for a new term, and said that he should follow this by ensuring that the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development is not reduced to a speech. . shop.
“The level of discussion is what you hear in a village square: we need to achieve new standards in the way it is run, in transparency on issues of national importance, in the level of discussion, in the answers given, and in the results that come out, ”she said, adding that a well-functioning MCEST will bring great benefits to the country.
She also stressed that issues related to industrial relations should be discussed in the Labor Relations Board before going to the MCESD. “And certainly before they find themselves in an electoral program,” she added, in clear reference to Labor’s proposal to make trade union membership compulsory.
In his own remarks, Abela emphasized the importance of ending Covid-19 restrictions as soon as possible and “returning them to full normalcy” and stressed that the country was already showing strong signs of economic recovery.
Going forward, he said, there were two major transformations that Malta wanted to achieve: decarbonisation and digitalisation. In both cases, he said, Malta could not afford to waste time.