The Nationalist Party is objecting to Anġlu Farrugia being appointed Speaker, The Times has learnt.
The Opposition expects, by right, to be consulted about matters that are directly or indirectly related to Parliament
“The Opposition Leader made a clear statement about this matter last Sunday during a radio interview on Radio 101. He reiterates that, with a nine-seat majority, there is no valid reason for the Speaker to not be chosen from among the elected members of the House,” a PN spokesman said, adding that the Opposition would object to Dr Farrugia’s nomination.
Dr Farrugia, who was forced to resign as Labour’s deputy leader for parliamentary affairs before the election campaign, was chosen by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to become Speaker of the House, Government sources confirmed on Tuesday.
The PN is critical of the fact that the Opposition had not been consulted about the matter.
“The Opposition expects, by right, to be consulted about matters that are directly or indirectly related to Parliament,” the spokesman said.
“Failure to do so will add to the list of negative messages that this Government has managed to send in these first two weeks of this legislature,” he added.
The PN has harshly criticised a number of Government decisions, especially the appointment of former Nationalist MP Franco Debono as Laws Commissioner and coordinator of the Constitutional Convention.
The party argued that it was “insulting and divisive” to assign to the man who brought down the last PN Government a role that would require him to work with the Opposition and build a national consensus.
Asked whether he would accept the role of Speaker without the support of the Opposition, Dr Farrugia said: “I will act according to what the Constitution says.”
Asked to elaborate, he pointed out that the Speaker must be approved by Parliament through a simple majority, without any need for agreement with the Opposition.
Article 59 of the Constitution says: “When the House of Representatives first meets after any general election and before it proceeds to the despatch of any other business, it shall elect a person to be the Speaker of the House; and if the office of Speaker falls vacant at any time before the next dissolution of Parliament, the House shall, as soon as practicable, elect another person to that office.”
It adds that the Speaker can be elected either from among the MPs (if they are not ministers or parliamentary secretaries) or “persons who are not members of the House of Representatives”.
In 2008, then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had offered the Speaker’s post to the Labour Opposition despite having a wafer-thin majority. However, Labour declined the offer, seeing it as a poisoned chalice, which would have effectively widened the Government’s one-seat parliamentary majority since the Speaker only has a casting vote.
Dr Farrugia, a former Mosta MP, was made to resign before the electoral campaign, ostensibly over comments he made about the political motivations of a magistrate.
However, his resignation was largely thought to have been brought about due to a poor performance he gave during a television debate against PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil.