Parliament was adjourned early today because there were not enough MPs to form a quorum (15 MPs out of 69).
Earlier, a sitting of the Public Accounts Committee was also put off because there as no quorum. The PAC was discussing the transfer of Australia Hall to the Labour Party in the 1970s.
The House was due to start debating the Enemalta Transfer of Assets Bill, ahead of the investment being made in the corporation by Shanghai Power Electric.
Before the debate was due to start, opposition MPs Mario de Marco and George Pullicino argued that the debate should not go ahead as insufficient information had been given about the agreement with the Chinese company. Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said the company and the agreement were not mentioned in the Bill, which would transform Enemalta from a corporation into a company.
The Opposition requested a ruling but the sitting was then adjourned because there was no quorum.
In a statement, the Nationalist Party said that unless there were amendments, the Opposition would vote against the Bill because the government was giving up its controlling interest in power generation facilities, and because the changes in Enemalta were not in the workers' interests.
It said the prime minister had not kept his word not to privatise Enemalta and the process was now being carried out with a serious lack of transparency. The government was continuing to negotiate in secret, the PN said.
It noted that the government would lose control over power generation facilities and would retain only partial control over power distribution. Furthermore, it said, the changes to Enemalta amounted to a betrayal of the workers. There was no assurance that the workers would retain their current Take Home Pay.
OPPOSITION 'TRYING TO STOP PROGRESS'
The Energy Ministry in a reaction said the Bill was aimed at modernising Enemalta and giving it a new lease of life after the Opposition burdened it with a debt of €840 million.
The ministry insisted the Opposition had enough time to study the Bill, but it was trying to obstruct progress which would see Enemalta becoming a contributor to the economy rather than a burden.
The House meets again tomorrow.