PAC debate on power station contract put off

A debate by the Public Accounts Committee on the power station extension contract was put off sine die this evening, with the chairman, Charles Mangion, declaring that he would await a ruling on a point of order raised earlier in the day by Foreign Minister Tonio Borg.

Dr Borg had asked the Speaker to rule if the Public Accounts Committee could hold a discussion on the power station extension contract once this had already been discussed in two sittings by the whole House. The House, according to Standing Orders, may not discuss the same issue twice, he said, so could a committee of the House do so?

Labour MPs, particularly Dr Mangion, said the PAC was different from the plenary session in that the committee could summon and question witnesses. It was also in the public interest that this issue was discussed.

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said the House had discussed the power station extension on the basis of a motion he had presented before the Auditor General's report on the contract was published.

Furthermore, once it was the PAC which had asked the Auditor General to draw up his report, it was logical that it should be able to discuss it.

Earlier, Dr Frendo in a ruling said that while it was within the remit of the chairmen of parliamentary select committees to set the agenda of their committees, members had a right to contest the agenda and request a vote.

Dr Frendo gave his ruling following a request by Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt in the wake of a stormy meeting of the Public Accounts Committee last Wednesday.

Dr Gatt had requested a vote after Dr Mangion proposed that the committee should discuss the power station extension contract. The request for the vote was turned down. The government MPs subsequently walked out, and Dr Gatt later also requested a ruling by the Speaker on whether the meeting could continue when there was no quorum.

In his ruling at the start of this evening's sitting, Dr Frendo said that Standing Orders laid down that the House Business Committee could impose the business of the other committees. Otherwise, as was the practice so far, it was up to the chairmen to issue the agenda of their committees and it was up to them whether or not to consult the other members. The chairmen had a responsibility to issue the agendas but it was wise to have consensus about them.

As to whether the agenda could be contested by the members of the committees, Dr Frendo said the Standing Orders were silent on this matter. However the Chair was of the view that there was nothing to stop any member from contesting the agenda, propose new items, and propose a vote, whose result had to be observed.

The exception applied only when it was the House Business Committee which imposed the agenda on the other committees, in which case the chairmen would be correct to refuse a request for a vote on that agenda.

In this case, this exception did not apply and it was therefore permissible for the MPs to request the vote and the vote should therefore have been taken and observed by the chairman.

As to the issue over the quorum, Dr Frendo said that after the government MPs walked out, the chairman read out a list of the people to be summoned before the committee, and the sitting was then adjourned.

Dr Frendo said that since there was no quorum, the meeting could not continue and whatever happened after the walk-out was therefore null.

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg then asked if the Public Accounts Committee could hold a discussion on the power station extension contract once this had already been discussed in two sittings by the whole House.

Dr Frendo said he would give a ruling in another sitting.

When the Public Accounts Committee convened, Dr Mangion said that in view of the Speaker's ruling, witnesses who were summoned for the meeting would not be heard today and were being dismissed.

The committee was also being adjourned sine die pending the Speaker's ruling on the point raised by Dr Borg.

Dr Mangion said that personally he disagreed with some of the points made by the Chair as that could hinder the activities of the committee, which was set up to monitor the administration of the Executive.