Sant will boycott Parliament tonight

Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant will this evening boycott the parliamentary session to be addressed by the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek.

“For the first time I feel ashamed to call myself an MP,” he wrote in a letter to Speaker Michael Frendo yesterday.

Dr Sant, who had written to Dr Frendo last month claiming the government had acted in contempt of Parliament over the MPs’ honorarium issue, was answering the Speaker’s reply sent on Saturday evening.

Dr Frendo said the Cabinet’s decision to raise the honorarium without the Speaker or the Clerk of the House being notified was “anomalous” but not in contempt.

He said the matter was not an act or omission which obstructed or impeded the House in the performance of its functions but warned that this should never be done again.

In a reply he forwarded to the media, Dr Sant said that, after reading Dr Frendo’s letter with close attention, he felt ashamed to be an MP for the first time in his 23-year career.

To express this sentiment, Dr Sant decided to absent himself from this evening’s parlia­mentary session. He stressed that this was not being done as a sign of disres­pect to Dr Buzek or any other persons that will address the House.

“This will be my way of showing great concern at the way our greatest democratic and constitutional institution is being ridiculed and under­mined, without anyone batting an eyelid.”

Dr Sant said he reserved the right to respond to Dr Frendo in more detail later on.

Earlier this month Dr Sant published the letter he sent to Dr Frendo in which he criticised the fact that decisions on pay increases taken two-and-a-half years ago were only announced now, at a time of austerity, casting MPs in a bad light among citizens.

Dr Sant pointed out that the honorarium increase was only given with immediate effect to ministers and parliamentary secretaries while that of MPs was still in the process of being implemented, two-and-half years after it was decided upon.

When contacted, Dr Sant said he had nothing to add to the letter and he refused to say whether he would renounce his increased salary or if he believed MPs deserved their rise, saying both questions were “immaterial”.

In his letter, Dr Sant had described the announcement, made in response to a parliamentary question, as underhanded and exposing MPs to ridicule, rage and contempt from citizens, undermining the constitutional function of parliamentarians.

The changes announced by the Prime Minister last Wednesday – including ministerial refunds and the postponement of any increase to MPs’ salaries – did not make things any better in Dr Sant’s eyes.

“I’m even more critical now,” he said following the announcement. “This is absolutely in contempt of Parliament. Which other government works in this way? This is a stop gap and now we are told we have by the end of next week to decide on the way forward.”

He said the Prime Minister should at the very least have made a sincere apology in Parliament but instead Lawrence Gonzi gave a staunch defence of why ministers should retain their honorarium.