Updated: Adds PN reaction - The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Carmelo Abela, who is a Labour MP, is to resign following what happened in Parliament last night, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said in a statement today.
He said that the Opposition would also be withdrawing from the parliamentary select committee on democratic change.
He said that more decisions would be announced in the future.
Dr Muscat was reacting to what took place in Parliament early this morning, when Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea was heard to declare his vote in favour of an opposition motion condemning the government over the power station extension contract.
Foreign Minister Tonio Borg had immediately declared that Mr Galea had made a mistake. He also said that a similar mistake was made by Labour MP Justyne Caruana. Amid uproar, the vote was discontinued and the Speaker said he wanted to hear recordings. He later called for a re-vote after declaring that the recording was not clear. The opposition walked out, insisting it won the vote.
Dr Muscat said that the government had a 'half-seat majority' but was being arrogant and undermining democracy.
He said that the Opposition could not accept the twisting of parliamentary rules to suit the government, and the Opposition was therefore disappointed with the actions of the Speaker and the Clerk of the House.
"The Chair is being led by remote control by the Prime Minister, the situation is surreal," Dr Muscat said.
He also insisted that it was not true that Justyne Caruana had also made a mistake during the voting, and she had been framed by Minister Tonio Borg and the Prime Minister.
Dr Muscat said the opposition would not attend the sittings of the committee on democratic change until an apology was made to Dr Caruana.
Dr Caruana, who spoke with Dr Muscat, also insisted that she had voted clearly with the Opposition.
The Nationalist Party's parliamentary group in a statement said that the PL decision to withdraw from the select committee on democratic change meant that Joseph Muscat was mixing up genuine mistakes during a parliamentary vote with discussion on important issued said as the strengthening of democracy, the strengthening of the Commission against Corruption and the strengthening of the Office of the Ombudsman. The remit of the committee also included discussion on party funding, issues of conflict of interest of MPs, and the electoral system.
Furthermore, the PL decision to withdraw from the committee and Mr Carmelo Abela's decision to resign showed disrespect for the institutions.
The group said that the attack made by Dr Muscat on the Speaker was shameful, especially since the Speaker had a duty to apply the Standing Orders and could not be influenced by threats, insults and obscene language, of the type addressed at him last night.
The PN group said it did not doubt that Dr Justyne Caruana made a genuine mistake, but Dr Muscat himself had not given her the opportunity to immediately clarify her position immediately.