Almost 1,700 oral and written parliamentary questions (PQs) were not answered by the time Parliament was dissolved at the beginning of May, statistics show.

According to the statistics provided by Parliament, MPs asked a total of 33,595 PQs throughout the four-year legislature. A total of 1,617 oral PQs never received a reply.

The questions would now have to be resubmitted if the MPs still want their replies. Of these, 470 questions had a reply ready but they were still pending upon Parliament’s dissolution.

A further 77 written PQs were still awaiting a reply when Prime Minister Joseph Muscat called a snap election.

Deputy Speaker Ċensu Galea was the most inquisitive MP, followed by Jason Azzopardi, Claudette Buttigieg, Claudio Grech and Toni Bezzina, all MPs from the Opposition.

Unlike the combative style of parliamentary questioning in the House of Commons, PQs in Malta tend to be a much more mundane affair.  A bid last year to introduce a weekly grilling of the prime minister in parliament failed after the government and the Opposition failed to reach an agreement.

The Opposition had argued that ministers often avoided answering PQs by referring them to other ministers, but the prime minister would not be able to shun any questions.

As is the case with Bills and motions, re-elected MPs would need to re-submit the PQs asked in the previous legislature to get a reply.

Parliament is set to reconvene next Saturday.

The new legislature has already got off to a confrontational start before MPs have even sat down on Parliament’s green benches.

The Nationalist Party last week expressed its frustration that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced that the second reading of the Marriage Equality Bill would take place as soon as Parliament opened, without the PN having been sent a copy of the Bill, as was customary.

Total PQs             33,595

(submitted for oral and  written replies)

Breakdown of the top five MPs who forwarded most questions

• Ċensu Galea

• Jason Azzopardi

• Claudette Buttigieg

• Claudio Grech

• Toni Bezzina

How many PQs were not answered?

Oral PQs which were not answered – 1,617

Oral PQs pending reply upon dissolution – 470

Written PQs pending reply upon dissolution – 77

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