The opposition yesterday paved the way for Nationalist MP Franco Debono to try and force the resignation of his sworn enemies, Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Malta’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana.
If Budget Measures were so important Parliament should not have had a four-week recess
Two days after the Prime Minister rejected Dr Debono’s demand for the opposition’s motion on justice and home affairs to be discussed before the Budget Measures Implementation Bill, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat put the ball back in the court of the maverick MP.
The opposition gave notice of two adjournment motions calling for its previously submitted motions to censure Dr Mifsud Bonnici and Mr Cachia Caruana to be debated immediately.
“I will do what Lawrence Gonzi has long known I will do and what he should have done before me. I will also do what the justice system has been crying out for me to do,” Dr Debono said when asked how he would vote on the motions.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici could not be reached for a comment.
The government issued a statement sticking to the stand declared by the Prime Minister on Tuesday after a meeting of his parliamentary group.
The government emphasised that Parliament should prioritise the Budget implementation law and vote upon it on May 9 and discuss the resolution on the new company that would be set up to manage the funding of the City Gate project.
It also pointed out that, in line with an agreement reached with the opposition on Wednesday, the House was also expected to begin discussing on Monday a Bill to extend the composition of the Malta Council For Economic and Social Development.
“Any other motions, including those presented today by the opposition should be discussed after May 9 as can be agreed in the House Business Committee,” the statement said.
Addressing a press conference yesterday afternoon, however, Dr Muscat said this was “the last resort” after months of parliamentary “humiliation” by Dr Gonzi.
Dr Muscat said the opposition had informal discussions with the government to find a way forward together but since there was no compromise it had decided to table the motions for immediate debate.
He added that if within the next couple of days the government agreed to discuss a better parliamentary schedule for the next two weeks, the opposition would be willing to suspend the motions.
If the Budget Measures Implementation Bill were as important as Dr Gonzi had said, Parliament should not have been forced to take a four-week recess, he said.
He said that Dr Mifsud Bonnici, who in a Cabinet reshuffle earlier this year had his justice portfolio replaced with a position as Leader of the House, was doing everything in his power to prevent a vote on the opposition censuring him.
The opposition’s motion filed in December, which details failings regarding justice and home affairs, originally did not call for Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s resignation. However, Dr Muscat said yesterday that this would be amended.
The motion regarding Mr Cachia Caruana was filed last week, prompting the government to suggest that he would appear before the House EU and Foreign Affairs Committee to answer questions by the opposition.
The motion says that Mr Cachia Caruana sought ways of circumventing a vote in Parliament on important foreign policy issues, namely, Malta’s membership of Partnership for Peace.
Dr Muscat said that he had no problem with Mr Cachia Caruana facing a grilling at the House Committee but this was no substitute of a parliamentary discussion and vote.