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The reservations of the Opposition for the ratification of the EU Constitution do not justify a vote in favour – CNI

According to the Campaign for National Independence (CNI), the five reservations proposed by the Labour Opposition on the ratification of the European Constitution do not justify a vote in its favour.

This was stated yesterday by Dr Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, President of the CNI during a press conference on the ratification of the European Constitution, the reservations of the Labour Parliamentary Group, and the objections to them by the CNI.

When a summary of the five Opposition reservations were presented to the journalists that were published on 31 May by he Labour Party and which were discussed yesterday by the Labour Parliamentary Group, Dr Mifsud Bonnici insisted that once the Opposition understood the difficulties in the new Constitution, so much so that they prepared these reservations, CNI feels that it would not be wise and logical for the MLP to vote in its favour when the Government motion with which it will approve the ratification will not include the reservations being made by the Opposition.

The Labour ex-Leader analyzed the five reservations and among other things rebutted the fact that according to the Labour Party the ratification should not cause damage to the Constitution of Malta and that this requires two-thirds to be amended. 

On this Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that article six of the foreign Constitution states that the Constitutional laws of the European ratification prevails over the highest Maltese law.

On the reservation that refers to the implementation of the protection and the maintenance of the welfare state, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that this is baseless. 

This is because according to the economic and social policy that is found in the third part of the Constitution, the Governments have to implement measures that inherently reduce the burden of the social services on the country.

The neutrality of Malta was one of the most sensitive points mentioned during the press conference. 

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that notwithstanding that the Labour Opposition interprets the European Constitution as not causing damage to the neutrality and freedom from military or common defence ties, he said that that this does not make sense because the EU is decided to establish a common foreign policy which is not one of neutrality. 

He also said that the Maltese Government cannot stop these changes bound with the foreign policy.

As regards the reservation on the economic expansion and employment levels, CNI says that this could only have been made when the agreement was signed last October. 

The Labour ex-Leader said that the EU is in no manner bound to interpret the European Constitution in a manner that it give special treatment to our country in any way.

He said that thus the line that they have taken to encourage the MLP not to vote in favour should continue to be sustained. 

He added that to give proof of this he prepared a motion that is going to be presented during the General Conference of the Labour Party on 30 June for the delegates to be asked not to vote in favour of the European Constitution by voting against or abstaining.

He said that due to internal difficulties that there may be in the MLP they are recommending that the Labour Party should abstain.

In the motion draft, the CNI states that the General Conference should deny the possibility that the Constitution encourages an increase in the militarization of the EU member countries. 

According to Dr Mifsud Bonnici the more countries vote in favour of the Constitution the more the EU can exercise its powers, so much so that it has already set up an agency whose sole aim is to modernize the European defence armaments. 

In the second part of the motion, it should be said that the Labour Party has to work with all the progressive member countries of the EU to draft a Constitution which protects the Independence, Freedom and Sovereignty of the member countries.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici who more than once explained the European Constitution as a dead one, stated that a vote in its favour means a vote in favour of its negative points. 

The CNI Leader also appealed to the Maltese Government that once the Constitution has been killed by France and The Netherlands not to continue with its ratification in Parliament.

When he was asked if there are any connections between the Campaign for National Independence and the Popular Labour Movement, Dr Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici categorically denied the association implicated by the general media. 

He explained this as a confusion of the broadcasting media and insisted that the aims for which CNI was set up are much different from those of the Popular Labour Movement.

14 June 2005

e-mail: cnimalta at yahoo.co.uk 

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