Holistic reform of Constitution

A year ago, President George Vellaannounced the start of a three-month public consultation process on constitutional reform. He said that “the [major political parties] will definitely not be in a position to impose their decisions on the rest of the representatives of society”. He was determined to give ample space for civil society to express its views.

Yet today Malta stands on the cusp of a number of major changes to the Constitution which will be  enacted without any consultation with civil society or, so far as it is possible to discern, any formal consultation by government or opposition with key experts in the academic and legal fields who have made a deep studxy of the Constitution. Why?

There is no doubt that President Vella’s constitutional reform programme has been thrown off-course by the coronavirus emergency. But there is a lingering suspicion that the group of PL and PN current or former members of parliament who form part of the president’s reform group felt more comfortable carving out pressing reforms politically free from the influence of constitutional experts or civil society activists.

In fairness – and more importantly perhaps –­ the pressure placed on...