During his last day in office, outgoing Speaker Michael Frendo thought back to the challenges of his difficult second sitting, sympathised with backbencher frustrations and warned against parliamentary overreach.
[attach id=247955 size="medium"]Outgoing Speaker Michael Frendo. Photo: Ian Pace[/attach]
Tourists entering Valletta pause to gawk at the rising stone and steel structure that will soon become Malta’s first purpose-built parliament.
Michael Frendo is similarly intrigued by the Renzo Piano project – “I’m very supportive, it will give Parliament its own home,” he said – but concerns about the legislature’s inner workings that furrow his brow.
“Parliamentary rules need to be changed. They favour the ruling majority too much, and they don’t give backbenchers enough space to contribute,” Dr Frendo told The Times on his last day in office as Speaker.
He summed up the problem in two sentences: “If you’re a minister, you have all the resources you need: if you’re a backbencher, you have none. The gap is just too wide.”
A quarter-century in politics saw Dr Frendo serve on both the front and back benches of Government, and he admitted he could often sympathise with backbencher frustrations.
It was the bubbling over of such frustrations that ultimately led to the previous administration’s downfall, but Dr Frendo tactfully batted away any questions about individual politicians or incidents, preferring to focus on the bigger picture.
Current rules need to be changed. They favour the ruling majority too much
“MPs need offices, even if they’re shared. And each MP should have two staff members – a researcher and an assistant – assigned to them.
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask, given the importance of having a functioning parliament.”
The investment would kill two metaphorical birds with one stone, he argued, quelling discontent while ensuring parliamentarians had all the necessary tools to play an active role as MPs.
With Parliament’s Budget still subject to the Government’s whims, the significant investment that would require will not happen overnight. Nor should it, Dr Frendo argued.
“I’m a firm believer in incremental change – absorb that which is new before taking on more.”
His three years as Speaker saw Parliament finally employ its own librarian – “maybe one day it will have its own communications director and staff for MPs,” he hoped – and begin the process of collating Speakers’ rulings throughout the years into one reference volume.
Having issued a record 34 rulings in just under three years, Dr Frendo’s place in the pantheon of Maltese parliamentary Speakers is secured.
The record was testament to the parliamentary turbulence Dr Frendo has had to weather.
He would have happily done without the trouble, he said.
“The worst part was the uncertainty, not knowing what was going to happen at any point. And that brought with it a great deal of tension.”
Unanimous cross-party support for his nomination to the Speakership meant Dr Frendo’s term began positively.
But by his second sitting, that consensual air had been shredded by Nationalist MP Mario Galea’s now-infamous “lapsus” moment, when he mistakenly voted the wrong way on a power station bill.
Labour MPs insisted they had won the vote while their Nationalist adversaries claimed PL MP Justyne Caruana had also voted wrongly – something she strenuously denied – cancelling out Mr Galea’s vote.
With tempers flaring, Mr Frendo turned to the session’s voice recordings for help, only to find that the recordings were a metaphorical dead-end.
“Only a few microphones were turned on,” he explained. “The rest were always kept off to prevent other MPs’ chatter from interfering. But that of course meant many MPs’ votes couldn’t be clearly heard.”
When he returned to the House and ordered a revote, an incensed Opposition marched out of the Parliament in protest.
He thought back to his baptism of fire.
“It was my second sitting, I was just starting out. It wasn’t easy. I didn’t want that sort of confrontation, but what can you do?”
Dr Frendo left Parliament that evening determined to prevent any future repeat.
“I made MPs stand and speak into the microphone when voting. And until I declared a vote, an MP could say they made a mistake and amend their vote accordingly.”
That, he argued, better reflected the democratic spirit.
“I never understood why MPs couldn’t change their vote.
“At the end of the day, a vote should reflect the wishes of elected representatives. The aim isn’t to catch somebody out.”
With the current Opposition having vehemently opposed the decision to nominate Anġlu Farrugia to succeed Dr Frendo, the question arises: would he have accepted the Speaker’s role had both sides of the House not backed him?
“Yes,” came the immediate reply. “It’s an election. If the majority votes you in, then you’re in.”
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said he favours Parliament becoming completely autonomous to Government, meaning there is a good chance a draft law on parliamentary autonomy will be debated and passed by this legislature.
Among other things, the law provides for the creation of a parliamentary service, distinct from the civil service, and a parliamentary commissioner for standards.
“It seems to be a good start,” Dr Frendo said of the draft law. “I think it goes far enough, though perhaps I’ll think otherwise in 10 years’ time.”
He was less complimentary about the suggestion that MPs who breached their code of ethics should be judged by the law courts, rather than their peers.
“It’s a proposal,” he said,“though I think Parliament should look after its own.”
But surely the judiciary – whose members can only be impeached by parliament – could argue similarly?
“Judges are first investigated by the Commission for the Administration of Justice,” he said.
“Look. Perhaps it could work. But I don’t think we should start at the far end and then row back.
“We should start by giving a parliamentary commissioner the tools to work with, and take it from there.”
The suggestion that regulatory authorities such as the Malta Resources Authority should be Parliament’s responsibility also left him cold.
“We need to ensure Parliament doesn’t overreach itself,” he said.
“Regulatory authorities should themselves be scrutinised by parliamentary committees.
“Plus, where do you stop? Should we place every regulatory body under the parliamentary umbrella?”
Dr Frendo bows out of local politics having tasted its sweet successes and acrid disappointments.
“I’ve been prematurely pronounced dead many times,” he chuckled, paraphrasing Mark Twain, and his transition from politician to legal consultant was not unexpected.
“I know politics and post-election difficulties a little too well, so I wasn’t expecting a second term,” he said.
“It’s been an interesting time, but I think this is a natural end to my term.”