The Speaker of the House, Michael Frendo, this evening appeared to clear the way for the Public Accounts Committee to discuss the power station extension contract despite the issue having already been debated by the House in plenary session.

The Chair had been asked to rule by Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, who argued that in terms of Standing Orders, the House could not discuss the same item twice. He asked, therefore, whether a House committee could discuss an issue which would have been debated by the House.

The power station extension was debated by the House before the summer on a motion by the Leader of the Opposition. The chairman of the PAC, however, has proposed that the matter should also be discussed by the committee. He has also listed the people who the committee would like to question, including the local agent of BWSC Joseph Mizzi, the former chairman of Enemalta, Alex Tranter ,and one of the chairmen of the selection committees, David Spiteri Gingell.

In a ruling this evening, Dr Frendo said that the Standing Order referred to by Dr Borg was no longer in force since the House had suspended it in the first sitting of this legislature.