Establish a Presidential System of Government in Malta

The fundamental concept of Separation of Powers, an important pillar of a democratic society, is intended to limit the powers of the governing institutions over its subject people.

In Malta we have a Parliamentary System of Government, with a collegial cabinet whose members have a dual role of running the government and being members of Parliament, whilst forming part of a strong cohesive political party holding a majority in Parliament. This political structure raises many concerns with regards to government abuse of power. Examples abound every single day in the local media, where the fusion of the Executive and Legislative Branches of the state yield the Parliament to a Rubber stamp of government agenda. The functions of our parliament as a place of debate and government scrutiny become trivial and on many occasions irrelevant.

An alternative system must be sought to strengthen the balance of powers between the governing institutions that limits the power of our government. The recipe could be a strong presidential model, where a head of state, elected by a popular mandate, will run the government and its ministries with a selected cabinet whose members (selected by the president and confirmed by a separately elected parliament) are not members of either Legislative or the Judicial branches of the state.

Parliament will restore its paramount duties as a true representation of the people, where debate on public policy takes place, laws are enacted, and government is continuously and meticulously scrutinized.