Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this morning that Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea had confirmed to him that he made a mistake in the way he voted in Parliament in the early hours of this morning on the opposition motion on the power station extension.
Mr Galea declared a 'yes' for the motion when he had intended to say 'no'. His lapsus caused uproar and triggered a walk-out from the Opposition, which insisted that its motion, condemning the government for the way the contract was awarded, had therefore been approved.
But Dr Gonzi said that there were five Nationalist MPs who had heard Gozitan Labour MP Justyne Caruana make a similar mistake, saying 'no' to the opposition motion.
Dr Gonzi said that Mr Galea had put down his mistake to tiredness and insisted this was a genuine mistake. He stood up in the house immediately he made his mistake, but he was drowned out by the shouting, insults and vulgar language by members of the opposition, Dr Gonzi said.
He said the Speaker was right to call a re-vote, and he insisted that MPs should be given a chance to immediately correct any mistakes.
It was farcical, Dr Gonzi said, for the opposition to try to claim that its motion had been approved on the basis of a genuine mistake by an MP.
Turning to Opposition leader Joseph Muscat's claim that Nationalist MP Charlo' Bonnici should not have voted because of a conflict of interest, Dr Gonzi said no conflict of interest existed.
Mr Bonnici is employed by Care Malta and answers directly to CEO Alex Tanter, who is also the Enemalta chairman. Furthermore, Care Malta is owned by Zaren Vassallo, a sub-contractor of BWSC for the building of the power station extension.
Dr Gonzi said that if Mr Bonnici had a conflict of interest, then one could only wonder what sort of conflict of interest existed in the case of Labour MP Roderick Galdes, an employee of Mepa, who had taken part in the parliamentary debates on the Mepa reform and the Mepa estimates.
It was becoming increasingly evident that the Leader of the Opposition liked gimmicks, Dr Gonzi said.
Dr Gonzi said that the government would be going ahead with the building of the power station extension, which Malta urgently needed.
He hoped the Opposition would decide and behave in a serious manner and that it would always seek the best interests of the country.
See also:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100506/local/debate