Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil met for the first time after the election this evening as Parliament held the annual Sette Giugno commemoration which recalls the 1919 riots in which four Maltese were killed.

As in previous years, the two leaders laid flowers at the foot of the monument, which has been returned to the Palace square. They shook hands on arrival and appeared to smile as they exchanged a few words while they sat near each other.

Outgoing Speaker Anġlu Farrugia delivered an address in which he went over parliament’s work in the last legislature.

He also gave his ideas of how parliamentary business could be improved, saying that a rule introduced in the last legislature reducing the speaking time for each MP to 20 minutes should be retained, except when a minister is introducing a bill, or when the first member of the opposition is replying, when they should have 45 minutes.

The citizen’s right of reply

Dr Farrugia also insisted on a proposal he first made two years ago, that people should have a right of reply to comments about them made in the House.  

This, he said, should be done in a way which does not impinge on parliamentary rights and privileges, which are intended to allow Members of Parliament to speak without fear.

“I believe that by granting this right, we would be bringing the citizen closer to Parliament because we would be tangibly providing him with the means to voice his concerns in the highest institution. At the same time, we would be showing him that the Members of Parliament are ready to be more accountable because this step in itself should serve as a means of control in respect of those abusing of their parliamentary privileges,” Dr Farrugia said.

Over the last, four-year, legislature, parliament met 507 times and enacted 186 laws, compared to 117, 116 and 122 in the previous legislatures. 33,595 parliamentary questions were tabled.

Read Dr Farrugia’s address in full on pdf below.