Parliament reopens its doors to a radically changed political landscape tomorrow after a long summer recess.
I will attend the meeting of the House Business Committee to put my mind at rest
For the first time in decades, there are not two but three-and-a-half political parties of sorts represented in Parliament: the PN, the Labour Party, an independent MP and a Government MP who is threatening to block the Budget.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando resigned from the Nationalist Party in July, during the summer recess, robbing it of a one-seat majority. He now sits as an independent MP in coalition with the Government.
Although Dr Pullicino Orlando has pledged support, he is expected to make use of the leverage he now has and the first signs of this will possibly be visible tomorrow.
The focus will not be the plenary sitting where both sides of the House will pay their respects to former Labour Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, who died last month. Instead the attention will be on the House Business Committee that will meet at 12.30pm to set the parliamentary agenda.
The Government enjoys a majority on the committee chaired by the Speaker, which has often served in this turbulent legislature to postpone potentially embarrassing votes and debates.
However, Dr Pullicino Orlando will be going to the meeting tomorrow to make sure Bills dealing with in-vitro fertilisation and cohabitation will be on the agenda.
“I will attend the meeting of the House Business Committee to put my mind at rest that the Embryo Protection Bill and the Cohabitation Bill are put on the agenda as soon as possible,” he told The Sunday Times yesterday.
Dr Pullicino Orlando will be taking part “in all meetings” of the committee and had talks with the Speaker on the matter. Asked whether he would seek a permanent seat on the committee, the Żebbuġ MP insisted his actions would depend on the outcome of the discussions.
“I am trying to collaborate with the PN parliamentary group as I had indicated when I assumed the status of independent MP,” Dr Pullicino Orlando said.
The collaboration will most probably see the morally thorny Bills put on the agenda, but PN whip David Agius said it also depended on discussions with the Opposition.
Parliament’s agenda for the first three days is more or less full, Mr Agius noted, with the resolution for the transfer of land in Pietà to the Augustinian Order – this was approved at committee stage – and the ratification of the EU treaty in relation to the setting up of a permanent bailout mechanism.
But while the Government had an open channel with its coalition partner, matters are more complicated when dealing with backbencher Franco Debono.
After the PN executive banned Dr Debono from contesting the next election with the party, a decision that also applied for Dr Pullicino Orlando and backbencher Jesmond Mugliett, the MP went on a virtual rampage.
In regular posts on his blog, Dr Debono has said he will not support the Budget and warned the Prime Minister not to risk “a Christmas Eve election”. “First election, then Budget,” he wrote.
When asked about Dr Debono’s declarations, Mr Agius said it all depended on the MP’s actions. “Nothing concrete has arrived in front of me telling me how Dr Debono will act.”
If Dr Debono does follow through with his threat to block the Budget, the Government will have no option but to call an election. The Prime Minister would then have to decide whether to go for a short one-month campaign, the minimum allowed by the Constitution, or a maximum of three months.
It will not be an easy decision to make but other issues may crop up before the Budget that could condition the debate as to when an election will be held. The Nationalist administration’s five-year term expires in March.
The Government will also have to contend with the Opposition’s political manoeuvring. A Labour motion to stop the privatisation of public car parks is one such move that could cause another embarrassing episode, given that Dr Debono has expressed his opposition to the Government’s plans.
Labour whip Joe Mizzi said the car parks motion was a priority because interested parties had until the end of October to participate in the tendering process.
“It would make no sense to postpone the debate after commitments were entered into with interested parties,” he added.
As for other priorities, Mr Mizzi said it depended on the Government’s attitude in the House Business Committee. He noted that over the past two years the Government had listed various priorities for its legislative programme but it kept changing them.
“The Government has constantly changed its priorities because of the internal problems it has and this does not augur well for parliamentary democracy,” Mr Mizzi said.
Political action did not stop over the summer as a billboard war raged and the two major parties held week-long rallies in September. As the battleground returns to Parliament it is unlikely there will be a lull in hostilities.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com