Parliament could not meet last night because there were not enough MPs to form a quorum.
The sitting was put off at 6.22 p.m. shortly after it started. Parliament will reconvene on Monday.
When Speaker Michael Frendo called Labour MP Evarist Bartolo to put the first question to Finance Minister Tonio Fenech there was a pause of a few seconds. Dr Frendo then said he could not allow the question to be put because there was nobody to answer it from the government side. Neither Mr Bartolo was present although the question could have been put on his behalf by Opposition Whip Joe Mizzi.
At the time, there were only three government MPs: Ċensu Galea, Robert Arrigo and Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea. The opposition benches were also deserted except for Mr Mizzi and, for a brief period, Roderick Galdes.
Mr Mizzi then called for a quorum and, after the statutory 20 minutes, the Speaker said there did not appear to be a quorum.
Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea asked for a ruling on a procedural motion governing what should happen in such circumstances. However, Dr Frendo said the procedure had been changed by his predecessor, Louis Galea, and so he could not entertain Mr Galea’s request.
Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg, who is Leader of the House, said the procedural motion had changed the waiting time from the five minutes of the past to 20 but nothing changed otherwise. If the Speaker felt there was a quorum he could take the Chair even before the 20 minutes were up.
Dr Frendo said he did not have a choice, adding there was no quorum and put the sitting off to Monday evening.
This comes hot on the heels of a raging controversy on whether MPs deserved a rise in their honorarium. A Cabinet proposal would have seen the annual honorarium go up to €26,000 from the present €19,000.
The decision was scuppered last month and is being debated in the House Business Committee. The Committee started discussing the issue on Tuesday when the two sides appeared to be quite far from agreeing. In fact, the Nationalist Party yesterday clarified it did not agree with any proposals made by the opposition. The Labour Party wants an independent commission to be set up to review politicians’ salaries. However, the government is insisting the discussion should be limited to MPs’ honoraria.