Speaker Michael Frendo has called another meeting today of the parliamentary committee that sets the House’s agenda after Monday’s impasse on the no-confidence motion.
Dr Frendo confirmed that he called the meeting on his own initiative as chairman “to discuss further the business of the House”.
The House Business Committee is expected to meet again this afternoon some two hours before Parliament re-opens for business after the Christmas recess.
The Committee is expected to discuss when and how the Opposition’s motion of no confidence in the government should be debated in Parliament.
The decision to call another meeting of the House Business Committee came as a surprise and the Speaker’s involvement was first made public by Opposition leader Joseph Muscat.
The Nationalist Party parliamentary group is also scheduled to meet at noon.
On Monday the government side, represented by Leader of the House Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici insisted that the Opposition’s no-confidence motion starts being debated next Monday with no time frame for its conclusion.
This means that if all 69 MPs are allowed to speak for an hour each following the normal pattern of sittings – three evening sittings a week – the debate could hypothetically drag on for more than two months.
The Opposition had wanted a three-hour debate tomorrow with a vote taken immediately afterwards but this was discarded by the government.
Dr Muscat yesterday urged the government to reconsider its position and agree on a timeframe with the Opposition for the conclusion of the no-confidence debate.
He accused the government of wanting to delay the debate and said this “shameful” behaviour was harmful to the country.
Dr Muscat said that if the government wanted each of its MPs to speak for an hour – the maximum time allowed – the Opposition was ready to agree to this but parliamentary sessions had to be held in the morning and evening.
“As long as the debate and vote are held next week, the Opposition is ready to be flexible,” he said, insisting the uncertainty on-whether the government enjoyed a parliamentary majority could not be allowed to persist indefinitely. “This country cannot afford a situation where such a debate could drag on for a month or even two,” Dr Muscat said, calling for “a realistic timeframe”.
He criticised Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s handling of the matter on Monday and said the minister’s failures in the justice and home affairs sectors were now being carried over to his management of House business.
In its reaction the Office of the Prime Minister said the no-confidence motion would be put to the vote “after an adequate debate according to the parliamentary rules”.
The statement made no reference to any time frames and accused the Opposition of arrogance by insisting on a time limit.
The Nationalist Party was more scathing in its criticism, accusing Dr Muscat of wanting to “muzzle” the debate by limiting the time for government MPs.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com