The House of Representatives this evening paid tribute to the late Lino Spiteri, who passed away on Friday, and expressed condolences with his families.

Mr Spiteri served in Parliament as an MP for 21 years, six of them in cabinet.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he used to seek Mr Spiteri’s opinion because he always said what other people might have lacked the courage to say.

One of the problems politicians faced, he said, was that they did not always find people willing to tell them their real thoughts but said what they thought the politicians wanted to hear.

Mr Spiteri, he said, was not one of these people.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said Mr Spiteri was a personality who became an MP when he was just 23 years old.

He served not just in politics but in a number of other fields. He was an economist, a writer and a person with a disability, which disability he had managed to overcome.

Mr Spiteri was a formidable but correct political adversary who was never personal in his criticism. He had faced a situation which led him to resign because of his beliefs differed to those of his leader.

Speaker Anglu Farrugia said he also knew Mr Spiteri closely and respected him for his integrity and beliefs.