Opposition parliamentary whip Joe Mizzi said today that the Speaker’s ruling on the Opposition adjournment motions tonight would determine whether parliamentary democracy would be saved or whether it would sink.
The Opposition has moved motions for the House to be adjourned in order to immediately debate its motions censuring Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici over his running of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, and Richard Cachia Caruana over his talks with Nato officials which, the Opposition claims, bypassed parliament.
The Times reported last week that the Speaker could refer to precedent, including a ruling by Myriam Spiteri Debono, to reject the adjournment motions.
Mr Mizzi, speaking on TVAM, said the circumstances of that and other rulings were different from what will be before the House tonight. The central issue at the time had been over the way how the adjournment motions were presented. The current Opposition, however, had followed procedure and now one would see how the Speaker, Dr Michael Frendo, would decide. However a decisiont o reject the adjournment motions would have implications for parliamentary democracy and the country.
When questioned repeatedly on why the Opposition wanted the motions to be debated before the May 9 vote on the Budget Measures Bill, Mr Mizzi said the motion on justice and home affairs had been pending for five months. What was important, he said, was that parliament got moving. He argued that (then) Leader of the House Tonio Borg had made a commitment for the motion on justice and home affairs to be debated by the end of January, but that commitment was not met.
Government whip David Agius.PN whip David Agius started reading the minutes of the House Business Committee where Dr Borg made his comments. Mr Mizzi grabbed the minutes from his hand and read them himself.
(Mr Mizzi later explained that he had taken the committee minutes with him and placed them on the table. Mr Agius took them and started reading them, whereupon he grabbed them back).
Mr Agius pointed out that at the opening of the exchange, Dr Borg said he could not make commitments and he only thought a debate could be held by the end of January.
Mr Mizzi, after reading the whole section, noted that at the end Dr Borg had made a clear commitment for debate by the end of January.
Mr Agius said circumstances had changed. He said that acceptance of a situation where anybody could move an adjournment motion would undermine the government’s right, as in every democracy, to set the parliamentary adjournment.
He said the Opposition was ignoring parliamentary business which was more important for the country because it was riding on the situation regarding Franco Debono.
DEBONO REACTS
Franco Debono, in a reaction, said it was unfair for Mr Agius to say that the Opposition was riding on his situation: "Mr Agius is aware that the Opposition is riding on the situation created not by me but by the mismanagement of certain ministers, especially in the areas of justice and home affairs.
"It is this mismanagement which has harmed the institutions, which is making people, including the Opposition, react to the shortcomings."
"The Opposition are riding on the situation created by Carm Mifsud Bonnici."
The criminal lawyer said he had been internally pointing out failures in justice and home affairs for many months and he had even presented a private members' motion which had not yet been debated.
He remarked that since Chris Said took over as Minister of Justice the situation in justice had seen a change in attitude. He spoke to and met Dr Said very often to discuss the situation in the law courts and even the remuneration package of the judiciary, which was close to being decided.
Dr Debono said the ministry of home affairs, which was still run by Dr Mifsud Bonnici, still needed to see such a change. People working in the ministry's various departments, including the police and the prisons, who did their best in the circumstances, were disgruntled and felt frustrated because of the problems at the political level.