Nearly all the microphones in the House of Representatives were off during the controversial vote on the Opposition motion on the power station contract last night, it has emerged.

The Office of the Speaker in a statement today said that during the vote, Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea was heard saying 'yes' (in favour of the opposition motion).

Mr Galea immediately rose to speak, but since the voting process was still under way, the Chair did not grant him permission .

When the roll call ended and before the vote as declared, the Leader of the House (Dr Tonio Borg) declared that Labour MP Justyne Caruana had been heard to say 'no' (against the Opposition motion).

The Office said that since there were doubts about Dr Caruana's vote declaration, the Speaker suspended the sitting so that he could listen to the recording.

At this point, amid uproar, the Opposition MPs walked out.

The Speaker listened to the recording together with the Clerk of the House and two Clerk Assistants.

However, since nearly all the microphones in the House were off during the vote, it was impossible to verify how Dr Caruana had voted.

The Office explained that in situations where MPs were not asked to declare their vote, it was only the microphone of the Clerk that was switched on. In cases such as yesterday's, when MPs were asked to declare their vote, some four microphones were kept on.

Since the Speaker could not ascertain whether Dr Caruana had voted yes or no, he had no alternative but to order a re-vote, as provided in standing orders, the Office said.

It added that a copy of the recording had been sent to the whips of the two parliamentary groups.

Speaking to timesofmalta.com, the Speaker, Dr Michael Frendo, said he would be taking action to ensure that more microphones were left on when the voting procedure adopted yesterday was requested.