Parliament reconvenes after a four-week recess

After a four-week hiatus, Parliament reconvened this evening to continue with the second reading of the Budget Measures Implementation Bill.

On the agenda were also two motions: one to introduce the system of guardianship for people with disability and the second to amend the composition of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development Bill as to include the Forum, the Gozo Business Chamber and representatives from the civil society.

The Bills will now be passed on for the first reading.

The business before the House however did not include the Opposition's motion calling for the resignation of Malta's permanent representative to the European Union, Richard Cachia Caruana, for his 'behind-the-scenes' role in bringing Malta into Nato's Partnership for Peace in 2008 and bypassing the parliamentary procedure for this decision.

The motion of censure was only tabled last Friday, and it must wait for the House Business Committee to agree when and how it is to be debated in Parliament. Yesterday, PL leader Joseph Muscat challenged the Prime Minister to a discussion in parliament on the motion.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Prime Minister has denied that there was any proposal in 2004 for Malta to become a member of Nato's Partnership for Peace. It said that the Opposition misunderstood the contents of US embassy cables concerning Malta.

With only 21 days to go, government must pass the Budget Bill by May 14. Since the no-confidence motion in January - which was only defeated with the Speaker's casting vote - no other votes have been taken.

The bill is a potential minefield for the government: its rejection would effectively nullify the budget measures and could spell the end for the government.

Waiting to be discussed in parliament is also a motion - tabled by the Opposition in January - on justice and home affairs.

As all public eyes are on backbencher Franco Debono - who had previously stated that he would not back government on the budget bill - he is now diverting questions on how he would vote to the delay by government in taking votes.

"I have no obligation to say how am I going to vote. At this point the question is irrelevant and the question to be asked is for government to say when it will be taking votes in parliament," Debono is insisting.