The Nationalist Party today presented a motion to Speaker Anglu Farrugia for the House Business Committee to set a date for parliament to discuss the dispute between the Ombudsman and Home Affairs Minister.

Yesterday, the Speaker turned down an Opposition request for the House to be adjourned to discuss the ongoing disagreement, saying the issue was not one of urgency. He invited both sides to agree on a debate date in the House Business Committee

The Ombudsman’s office and the government are on a collision course over which entity has the jurisdiction to look into complaints filed by army officers, with both sides expressing diametrically opposed views.
The Ombudsman has filed a judicial protest saying the Armed Forces of Malta was withholding information from him, thus hindering his investigations. A counter protest was then filed by the Home Affairs Ministry.

Former European Court Judge Giovanni Bonello has defined the case as “a matter of constitutional crisis”.

Presenting the motion to the Speaker, PN Deputy Leader Mario de Marco pointed out there was agreement that the matter was in the public interest and of national importance. For these reasons, the discussion should be held as soon as possible so a solution to the impasse could be found.

PN MP Jason Azzopardi said such a conflict between State entities was unprecedented and described it as a “grave situation”. He stressed the Ombudsman was protected by the Constitution and it was critical that trust was based on actions not words.