Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said this evening that the opposition had backed out of an agreement regarding voting on the Mepa reform bill and was capitalising on the fact that he was abroad and absent from the vote.
The Opposition earlier today managed to force a vote on amendments to the bill. The result of the vote was a 34-34 tie, and the opposition amendments were only defeated after the chairman used his casting vote twice. (See separate story http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100512/local/house-runs-into-new-procedural-turmoil ).
Dr Pullicino Orlando said the government and the opposition had agreed that the vote on clauses of the Mepa reform bill would be taken at another sitting which had to be decided. He therefore had been given the government go-ahead to go abroad on business connected to the Malta Council for Science and Technology, which he heads.
The opposition, he said, was trying to capitalise on the fact that he was abroad and had backed out of an agreement which was recorded in the minutes of Parliament.
PN STATEMENT
The Nationalist Party in a separate statement, accused the Opposition of having breached an agreement reached in the House Business Committee on May 5 regarding when a vote was to be taken on clauses of the Mepa Reform Bill.
It said the agreement was reached in a meeting presided by then Deputy Speaker Carmelo Abela, who had himself confirmed in the committee meeting that the vote had been put off ‘to another sitting’. That agreement was recorded.
"The attitude of the Labour Opposition in Parliament shows that it is not credible in its declarations,” the PN said.
“The Opposition is not true to its own word”.
PL REACTS
The PL said the Gonzi government was saved by the chairman's casting vote. It said that the minutes of the sittings referred to earlier in the sitting by the Speaker confirmed that there was no agreement.
What had happened confirmed once more that the government was weak and unstable. What happened today, it said, was a consequence of what the prime minister and his deputy had said about Justyne Caruana, for which they had not apologised.
The PL said it was adopting the rules as set by the procedural motion which the government itself had moved and which laid down that the vote had to be taken tonight.