No confirmation over instructions to MPs to cancel travel plans

The whip of the Nationalist Party David Agius has said that the latest directive by government not to meet unless all its MPs are in Malta, will not affect the parliamentary work that needs to be carried out.

Yesterday evening, the PN's communication office issued a statement saying that Parliament will not meet unless all Nationalist MPs are in Malta. The directive started yesterday and continues today until Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi returns from the European Summit.

Parliament will reconvene tomorrow.

To justify its decision, the PN said the relationship between government and opposition in Parliament had now "changed" and added that Opposition leader Jospeh Muscat was using parliamentary manoeuvring to win House votes.

"The statement issued yesterday makes it clear that unless all our MPs are present in Malta, parliament will not meet," Agius said when contacted by MaltaToday.

Agius neither confirmed nor denied that the PN had issued a directive to the members of its parliamentary group directing them not to take any 'leave' from parliament.

"Those are internal party affairs," Agius said.

The party whip however insisted, "all work which needs to be done in Parliament will be done. We are not going to waste any time from the work that needs to be carried out."

Meanwhile, the Labour Party lambasted the PN for its decision, insisting that the Prime Minister and his party were "holding Malta hostage" because of its internal problems.

"GonziPN should be embarrassed by its decision, and goes on to confirm that it is government which is inducing instability in the country," the PL said in a statement.

While the Opposition's no confidence motion was defeated, government did not confirm its majority in the House following the abstention of PN MP Franco Debono.

The PL is now accusing the Prime Minister of "latching on to power despite his admission of losing parliamentary majority".