Updated: Opposition to vote against appointment of Deputy Speaker

Opposition Deputy Leader Anglu Farrugia said today that the Opposition would vote against a motion for the appointment of Censu Galea as Deputy Speaker.

He told Parliament that the decision was taken because the government was undermining democracy and mocking parliament through the way parliamentary business was handled.

Mr Galea will succeed Labour MP Carmelo Abela, who resigned in protest after rulings by the Speaker in the wake of the debate on the power station extension.

The Leader of the House, Tonio Borg, who moved the motion for Mr Galea's appointment, said that Mr Galea had a wealth of experience as a long serving MP and former minister, and he was well suited for the position.

Dr Farrugia spoke on the circumstances which led to the resignation of Mr Abela, saying that parliamentary democracy had been undermined. He said that during the voting after the power station debate, Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea had voted 'yes' for the opposition motion, but the Speaker stopped the vote after the government claimed that Labour MP Justyne Caruana had voted 'no' something which was not true and amounted to a political frame-up.

Dr Farrugia said that in the wake of the incident, the Opposition had also decided to stay away from the meetings of the Standing Committee on Democratic Reform. How could the opposition discuss democratic reform when the government was undermining democracy, especially in the way Parliamentary business was conducted?

Not only was the government playing about with Standing Orders - such as by restricting voting to Wednesday at 1 p.m. - but MPs were not getting replies to their parliamentary questions, Dr Farrugia said.

He said that it was up to the government to remedy the current situation before things could go forward.

In view of these circumstances, he said, the Opposition would vote against this motion.

Dr Borg, replying later in the debate, defended the government's record in Parliament. He said that Dr Farrugia had accused the government of undermining democracy, yet it was this governemnt which nominated a President who just a few months before had contested the Labour Party leadership. This was the government which set up the Committee for Democratic Change, the government which set up the Public Accounts Committee headed by a Labour MP, and the government which made it possible for the Opposition to also nominate the deputy speaker.

Furthermore, it was this government which enacted laws creating the Ombudsman. It also amended the electoral laws for closer proportionality in the House with votes cast in the general election.

Referring to the conduct of parliamentary business, Dr Borg said the government, however, could not be brought into a situation where ministers could not go abroad on government business.

The opposition, he said, had not cooperated. It had refused pairing and was now withdrawing from the Select Committee on Democratic Change.

Years ago, the government also proposed an updating of Standing Orders, including Prime Minister's Question Time. The Opposition did not even reply.

And much could be said of the Labour government's record in Parliament, not least the fact that Opposition private motions were not debated.

This government, the minister said, would keep its promises for further action to fight corruption and further strengthen democracy.

He also referred to mistakes during voting in the House and said it was ridiculous that MPs could not immediately correct genuine mistakes. This was something which did not happen anywhere else in the world.