Updated at 6.20pm
Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi breached parliamentary privilege last week in a tweet aimed at Economy Minister Chris Cardona, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia ruled on Wednesday.
Quoting from previous rulings, Speaker Farrugia said that although the tweet, posted on October 10, did not name Dr Cardona, it had been made shortly after a rowdy parliamentary session where the Economy Minister had repeatedly interrupted former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.
Illejla stajtu taraw kif igib ruhu l-korrott u dak li jiekol il-kirxa mal-qattiela: ma jhalliex jitkellem lil min jikxef il-gideb u l-hazen tieghu.
— Jason Azzopardi (@AzzopardiJason) October 10, 2018
Throughout Dr Busuttil’s speech, the Economy Minister had repeatedly butted in, raising a series of points of order, and eventually had his microphone turned off.
Dr Azzopardi then took to Twitter writing [in Maltese]: “Tonight you could all see how someone corrupt who rubs shoulders with killers, tries to silence those who expose his wrongdoing”.
Dr Azzopardi has since insisted that his tweet did not refer to anyone in particular and so could not be interpreted as having targeted Dr Cardona.
The Speaker however said it was clear to anyone who had been following the proceedings on that evening that the tweet was targeted at Dr Cardona.
He added that the tweet was derogatory and told Dr Azzopardi to apologise and retract his comment.
Dr Azzopardi was not present in the House when the ruling was handed down.
However, in another tweet a shortly after the ruling was handed down, Dr Azzopardi said that the right to political expression could not be taken away by the Speaker. He said he would continue to defend that right.
Later in the evening, Dr Azzopardi said that he was "shocked by the implications" of the Speaker's ruling and would be contesting it in parliament as well as in court if needed.