Pullicino Orlando pledges ‘coalition’ backing for PM

Independent MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando still considers Lawrence Gonzi to be Prime Minister and will continue supporting the government.

I will support the government in Parliament unless I declare otherwise in respect of a specific motion or law

The MP, who last week resigned from the Nationalist Party, yesterday told Speaker Michael Frendo he considered himself to be in “a coalition” with the government.

“I will support the government in Parliament unless I declare otherwise in respect of a specific motion or law,” Dr Pullicino Orlando said, after officially informing the Speaker of his new independent status during a short meeting.

The declaration temporarily closes the chapter of political turmoil caused by his resignation. But it also brings a new dynamic to the lawmaking process that sees the Żebbuġ MP hold the balance of power in Parliament.

Asked where he will sit from now on, Dr Pullicino Orlando said that , unless the Speaker indicated a different location, he would be sitting on the government side.

In his letter to the Speaker, which was circulated to the media, Dr Pullicino Orlando said: “I would like to inform you that I have resigned from the Nationalist Party. I have informed the leader of the party Dr Lawrence Gonzi that, while I still consider him to be the Prime Minister of Malta, I no longer form part of his parliamentary group and do not consider the PN parliamentary whip as having any form of authority with regard to my actions in the coming months. I intend to continue serving out my term in the House of Representatives as an independent member.”

Parliament will reconvene after the summer recess on October 1 and the MP has already indicated that the proposed laws on cohabitation and in-vitro fertilisation were high on his agenda.