Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said he was greatly disappointed at the opposition's behaviour in Parliament on Thursday, describing the Labour MPs' walk-out as "childish".
"Because the opposition didn't get its way, they started shouting and using vulgar language," Dr Gonzi said during a political meeting in Sliema.
The opposition walked out of Parliament on Thursday night after the Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly, Mario Galea mistakenly voted in favour of a Labour motion during a debate on the controversial power station extension contract. The Leader of the House, Tonio Borg then accused Labour MP Justyne Caruana of voting against the motion.
Dr Gonzi said Mr Galea was overcome by tiredness and made a genuine mistake. "He was exhausted, just like we all were because it was 2 a.m., and made a genuine mistake, which he corrected immediately."
However, the opposition insisted on presenting a false picture and acted like small children, Dr Gonzi added. "Sometimes I'm under the impression that we have a kindergarten in Parliament," he said.
He said Thursday's walkout reminded him of when the Labour Party had fewer votes but the majority of seats in Parliament and insisted that it had won the general election. "They said they won but, again, they presented a false picture."
Dr Gonzi said there was always something to learn and Thursday's incident showed that certain things "need to be arranged in Parliament".
However, he added, these were not the important issues at stake because there were other matters to address such as the financial crisis faced by the Greek government. "Everyone is waiting for the opening of the stock markets tomorrow to see how they will be affected by the Greek crisis."
Turning to the education reform, Dr Gonzi said it was important that the system did not push children to learn in a parrot-like manner and that they were not pushed into "traditional" jobs.
"We need more students graduating in IT, biochemistry and nanotechnology. Children need to be made aware of these roles from an early age without being classified by the system," he said.
Dr Gonzi also spoke on single mothers, saying it was a misconception to think that all single mothers abused the system to obtain social benefits. "People abuse everywhere. Those who abuse the system are guilty of stealing from the genuine cases and I think people need to learn not to judge."