The Nationalist Party has reiterated its call for the planning reforming bills to be withdrawn immediately. “After bowing to pressure, the Government has now set up a committee made up of its own Ministers and Permanent Secretaries in a pretence of consultation – yet has already declared that no agreement will be reached with environmental organisations,” it said.

The PN, in a statement on Friday, insisted that the planning reform bills, “which the Government hastily presented before Parliament in the peak of summer, must be withdrawn without delay.”

It said that “after following strong pressure from the PN and environmental organisations that the Government refrained from pushing these laws through Parliament. Yet now – having caved in to that pressure – in an attempt to give the impression it is acting, yesterday the Government announced a so-called consultation by forming a committee chaired by the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff in Castille, composed of five Ministers and two Permanent Secretaries, all from within its own ranks.”

The PN insisted that “if the Government truly intended to hold a proper consultation – and not a sham – it would have ensured that this working committee included those who have voiced opposition to these bills, as well as experts in the field.”

The PN also warned that “this is nothing more than manipulation to ensure that the Government’s controversial proposed laws – which have provoked widespread outrage from civil society – are passed once Parliament reconvenes.”

It said that the Government “has already admitted that no agreement will be reached with NGOs and, even before the consultation has begun, it has stated that there will be matters which environmental organisations will not agree with. This clearly shows that the Government is unwilling to amend the key points of the legislation that sparked such controversy.”

The PN stated that it will “not allow the Government to hold a token consultation as a means of forcing through its plans, and while it supports the call of the environmental organisations protesting against these laws, it will continue to insist that the bills must be withdrawn.”

The PN said that it believes in “genuine consultation – not in forced, conditional, media-oriented exercises designed merely to create the illusion that the Government has acted, in the hope of calming public anger.”

The Nationalist Party concluded by saying it “remains in continuous dialogue with all those involved and concerned, and is also ready to discuss with the Government the issues troubling the public. If the Government truly believes in genuine consultation, it must ensure that it also consults seriously with the Opposition, which represents a significant part of the population – Failing this, it will simply continue to steamroll over everyone to get its own way.”

The statement was signed by Stanley Zammit Shadow Minister for Planning and Lands and Rebekah Borg Shadow Minister for the Environment.

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