Updated 11.20pm with Speaker's reply
Parliament plans to spend a maximum €10,000 on official silver-plated cufflinks costing about €10 a pair, Times of Malta has learnt.
On the initiative of Speaker Anġlu Farrugia, a tender was recently issued by Parliament to commission “a reputable firm” to provide it with 1,000 silver-plated pairs of cufflinks with the image of the façade of the new parliament building and the words ‘Parlament ta’ Malta’ embossed on them.
The tender conditions lay down that “each pair of cufflinks is to be supplied complete with a presentation gift box or equivalent preferably in dark green”.
The tender includes a design supplied by the Speaker's office on how the new cufflinks should look.
Times of Malta is informed the office of the Speaker estimates to spend about €10 per pair of cufflinks limiting its budget to €10,000.
€10 per pair of cufflinks is too cheap especially if these are to be presented as gifts to foreign guests
According to information reaching this news organisation, the cufflinks will be reserved for “official dignitaries” and it does not appear they would be given to the 71 sitting MPs, though the plans might change.
When contacted, a spokesman said the cufflinks were intended to be given as gifts to official dignitaries visiting the Speaker and Parliament.
Questions including on how many offers were received after the call for tenders, which closed in the middle of last month and who was evaluating the submissions remained unanswered at the time of writing.
Sources close to Parliament said the tender had yet to be awarded, adding that tenderers could be finding some difficulty meeting the conditions.
“Some experts in the field have told the Speaker’s office that €10 a pair was rather low, especially if the cufflinks are to be presented as gifts to foreign guests, particularly during Malta’s presidency of the EU.
“It would have been better to order smaller amounts but of a higher quality. It will be almost insulting to give a foreign minster or a European commissioner a cheap pair of cufflinks,” the sources added.
A final decision on the tender has still to be taken.
Since taking over as Speaker in 2013, Dr Farrugia, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, has been calling for more autonomy to Parliament.
After its moved to Renzo Piano's new iconic building at Valletta's entrance, Parliament has been hiring its own staff and making its own procurement requirements without the need of going through government departments.
A law approved by Parliament last year raised the status of the Speaker's office in the official protocol, a move that irked the Chief Justice who complained publicly about it when exchanging end-of-the-year greetings with the President last month.
In a reply, the Speaker said his office had adopted the most transparent and correct procedure to obtain the quotes for the cufflinks and a notice was published in the Government Gazette of December 2.
The required specifications for the product were submitted for public inspection and the relevant authority was also consulted.
The Speaker insisted it was not the first time that such mementos had been used for inter-parliamentary visits.
"One also needs to consider that there are a considerable number of institutions which do not permit exchange of gifts over a certain value, something that the Office of the Speaker is proposing to introduce in the code of ethics."