Parliament to meet on May 10

Parliament is to reconvene on May 10, the Cabinet decided this morning.

In terms of the Constitution, Parliament has to meet within two months of the presentation of the official results of the general election to the President.

This will be the 11th Parliament since Independence.

At its first sitting the House elects the Speaker and the President will then deliver an address in which he outlines the government's plans for the legislature.

The House on the following days will debate a motion to thank the President for his address. The debate is usually opened by the youngest MP on the government benches.

The new Parliament will be composed of 69 MPs, with the government having a majority of one. The Electoral Commission earlier today issued a call for nominations for casual elections to fill 12 seats vacated by candidates elected from two divisions on March 8. The elections are expected to be held in the middle of next week.

The government is expected to shortly have talks with the opposition on the nomination of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. It has become the practice for the Deputy Speaker to come from the Opposition benches, but in view of the government's narrow majority, the Speaker will this time have to be appointed from outside the House.

In the last legislature the government had a five seat majority and the Speaker, Anton Tabone, was a serving MP. He remains Speaker until his successor is sworn in.