7th April, 2025
Magisterial Inquiry amendments: “Let us go for an abrogative referendum”, insists Momentum
“Now that President Myriam Spiteri Debono has confirmed that “the Constitution is clear” and that she no choice but to sign the magisterial inquiry reform bill, meant to curtail the rights and democratic freedoms of citizens, and imposed upon parliament by Prime Minister Robert Abela and Justice Minister Jonathan Atard, there is no other avenue left but to go for a national abrogative referendum to cancel the anti-democratic articles, as originally proposed by ADPD”, stated Momentum Chairperson, Arnold Cassola.
We are furthermore comforted in our line of reasoning by the words pronounced yesterday by Constitutional Law specialist, Prof. Kevin Aquilina, who wrote: “What I am proposing is that the (regressive) article or articles in the new law to be published in the coming days that celebrate Malta as a mafia state are revoked”.
We therefore appeal to all NGOs, Civil Society and to all political parties of good will to get together and form a referendum committee, with a view to collecting the signatures of 10% of the voting population necessary to kick-start the referendum.
In particular, our invitation is addressed to the PN. In 2015, the Partit Nazzjonalista just sat on the fence and did not even lift a single finger to help out with the referendum initiative on Spring hunting. We hope that now, in 2025, the PN will not repeat its 2015 Pontius Pilate attitude and will be part of the common effort to promote the efforts for a referendum to abrogate the Abela-Attard regressive articles on Magisterial Inquiries that have just been passed through parliament”, concluded Arnold Cassola.–
Arnold Cassola,
Chairperson, Momentum
