Konrad Mizzi is right to refuse to attend the PAC committee meeting to be grilled

The former minister for energy, Konard Mizzi, is completely right to refuse to attend the meeting of the PAC committee that is being scheduled to be this afternoon. One needs to point out that Konard Mizzi is now an independent MP and does not owe affiliation to any party.

I do not agree with Mizzi’s statement. On Facebook, the reason he gives for not attending the PAC this afternoon is that it is chaired by the Nationalist Party. In truth, PAC is always chaired by the Opposition. Unfortunately, PAC has developed into a kangaroo court and has lost its credibility as we have seen in previous meetings, similar to the one, which is scheduled for this afternoon. This is the fault of our two dominant political parties which have always tried to use this committee as a political tool to further their own agenda.

If Konrad Mizzi has abused his position, there are in Malta better authorities to investigate him, starting from the Police. It is to be pointed that parliamentary immunity in Malta, unlike in France, does not cover members of parliament. Therefore, if Mizzi has committed a crime, he can be prosecuted in court, irrespective of his position as a member of parliament. For example, both in France and Italy, the magistrates need the authorization of parliament to proceed against MPs. In Malta, this is not required.

It is to be regretted that the way PAC operates is similar to the way the parliamentary inquires operate, which are just a political tool that is doing no good, even to the party in opposition. The individuals on PAC, who are conducting this sort of investigation, are all politicians who can never be apolitical. When, individuals, who were not politicians, were chosen to conduct an inquiry, politicians still interferred in one way or another to accommodate personal and political interests, as has been the case recently, with the result that those sitting on the inquiry failed miserably in doing their duty. Their findings clearly showed that they were incapable of being apolitical.