Towards a more relevant, efficient and democratic House of Representatives

Abstract

This thesis aims to highlight the imminent need for revamp in the methods and guiding principles prevailing within the Maltese electoral system and questions certain inaccuracies which come to the fore after a deeper inspection has been made. The office of the Speaker is an essential part of the required mechanisms for a House of Representatives to be truly considered as relevant and efficient. Therefore, it is crucial that the officeholder really acts impartially at all times and is given the necessary manpower essential for the efficient running of this office and, in turn, the House. Some may consider our present electoral system as one that is fairly satisfactory and that serves our needs well enough. However, certain aspects of this system certainly require updating in order to meet other contemporary needs. Other more recent developments, which if applied in the Maltese scenario might improve the prevalent skills from which our Members of the Executive branch of government are chosen, will also be considered and examined in some detail in order to promote the adoption of these scenarios within a local context. The present composition of the House of Representatives will be examined and various other methods of composition will be suggested and examined. The lack of resources facing our current Members of Parliament when compared with other Members abroad, especially the European Parliament, will be highlighted through a detailed comparative analysis of the tools afforded both to local MPs and those overseas. It is felt that for the House of Representatives to become more relevant and democratic its Members are to be more accountable for their actions and the words spoken even inside the House. Therefore, the privilege of freedom of speech and the immunity of freedom from arrest will be examined and placed under the limelight in order to propose a system which one may deem to be fairer, more transparent and less anachronistic. This work does not have the scope or intend to provide a foolproof solution towards making our House of Representatives more efficient and democratic. Therefore, while at times I will be forwarding any solutions deemed feasible, what is written is also meant as an eye-opener with the intention of spurring the realisation that alternative (and possibly better) methods to our current state of affairs also exist.