Culture Minister Mario de Marco says the Bill abolishing theatre censorship was delayed because the government was duty-bound to allow all MPs to participate in the debate.

... whip indicated there were other MPs who might wish to intervene

On Tuesday – when Parliament rose for the summer recess – the plan was to pass the Bill through all its stages.

“Unfortunately, it was not possible to do so because the Labour whip indicated that there were other MPs who might wish to intervene in the debate,” Dr de Marco said.

During Tuesday’s sitting, it was only Dr de Marco and Labour MP Owen Bonnici who spoke about the Bill.

“You will appreciate that it is our duty to respect the right of all MPs to intervene freely in the debate, even if this in effect means a prolongation of the debate and subsequent enactment of the necessary legislation. A healthy debate generally helps ensure a legislation that reflects better the concerns of the stakeholders involved.”

Dr de Marco said he fully appreciated the artistic community’s interest in hoping for a speedy conclusion to the parliamentary debate on the long-desired proposed legislative changes. This would have possibly enabled theatre companies to better plan for the forthcoming season, which traditionally starts in October.

“As I had the opportunity to state earlier, I am equally anxious to have the matter debated and concluded as quickly as possible and to bring into effect the necessary legislative changes as proposed the moment the Bill is given a third reading in Parliament. I trust this will happen when Parliament reconvenes early in October.”

Producer Adrian Buckle, who has been on the forefront of the campaign to end theatre censorship, said: “It was always a long shot to get it approved in one sitting. The good thing is that they started discussing it. Hopefully, come October, they will resume the discussion and have it approved without delay.”