Cabinet’s decision ‘anomalous, but not in contempt’

The Cabinet’s decision to increase MPs’ honoraria without the Speaker or the clerk of the House being notified was anomalous but not in contempt of the House, Speaker Michael Frendo said last night.

In a letter to MP and former Labour leader Alfred Sant, Dr Frendo said he did not feel the matter was an act or omission which obstructed or impeded Parliament in the performance of its functions.

He agreed, however, that such a decision should not be taken again in the best interest of relations between the House and the executive.

In a letter to the Speaker, Dr Sant had accused the government of acting in a contemptuous manner when it raised the MPs’ salaries.

The increase was backdated to March 2008, according to a decision taken by the Cabinet in May that year.

Dr Frendo said Dr Sant’s letter emphasised the need for Parliament to be autonomous, and that issues such as members’ honoraria should be regulated by parliamentary procedure in the best interest of democracy.