Updated | Debono protests call for Speaker's ruling on amendment for minister's resignation

The Opposition has asked to amend its motion of censure against the home affairs minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici, to call for his resignation.

But deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg has demanded a ruling from the Speaker, saying the amendment has been proposed after the reading of the motion and that in demanding a material change to the conclusions of the motion this requires the House's consent. "According to Erskine May, this amendment is not possible, so I am asking the Speaker whether such an amendment demands the consent of the House. It's not a cosmetic measures but one that amends the motion materially."

Borg's intervention was met with an angry outburst by Nationalist backbencher Franco Debono, who was seen calling out the minister for opposing the amendment. Debono was instantly warned by acting Speaker Censu Galea that he would be suspended from the House if he persisted in his vocal protest. "Honourable Debono, you are not the be all and end all of this House," Galea intoned from his seat.

But Debono was equally forthright with the acting Speaker. "I will do my best in speaking even if you interrupt me Mr Speaker... this parliament has been shamefully run by you [Borg] and the man beside you, the Prime Minister."

"Honourable Debono, I will not let you speak in this manner," Galea retorted.

"It's shameful that democracy has been tainted in this manner while €80 mllion is spend on a new parliament building," Debono replied. Visibly angered, the MP said the amendment moved by the Labour MP was relevant in the light that his own private members' motion on justice and home affairs had not even put on the agenda by the House Business Committee by the Leader of the House - who happens to be home affairs minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

On his part, Labour deputy leader for parliamentary affairs Anglu Farrugia said amendments to the motion could be proposed at any time, and that the Speaker should simply ask who seconded the amendment and proceed.

Earlier in the day, shadow minister for home affairs Michael Falzon took his government counterpart to task in a litany of shortcomings in the police, security and other sectors in Carm Mifsud Bonnici's portfolio, in the opener to the motion of censure against the minister.

Falzon opened the nine-session debate on a motion of censure he and shadow justice minister José Herrera tabled back in December against the embattled home affairs minister, whose justice portfolio has since been awarded to Chris Said in a cabinet reshuffle.

"I want to dispel the notion that we're trying to ride some opportunistic wave here," Falzon said introducing the motion, in a reference to the vocal criticism of Mifsud Bonnici's stewardship by Nationalist Franco Debono.

"This motion does not reflect any sort of political opportunism. It is informed by the people's needs and the need for better governance. This is no personal attack," Falzon said.

Thoughout his speech, Falzon displayed his intimacy with the affairs of the forces of law and order, relaying a host of complaints by members of the disciplined corps on the state of the Police and the Civil Protection Department.

Even on migration and the detention of asylum seekers, Falzon focused on the lack of decent conditions for Detention Services officials and training for police "to be prepared for immigrant riots", and said the Maltese government had to be stronger in its approach for more European assistance.

"I understand that the influx of illegal immigration does not depend on the government of the day, but I feel we could have done more. We agree that we have international and moral obligations, but we must tackle the situation better.

"I reiterate our criticism in the past that the voluntary burden sharing scheme did not result in any concrete aid from the part of EU member states, and we saw much greater assistance from the United States."

In an indication that there had been no scaleback from the PL's hardline position on irregular migration, Falzon also expressed agreement with tactics employed by the recent Berlusconi government in Italy.

"There has been a lack of insistence by the government with the EU to go beyond voluntary measures... but the Italians did not shy away from declaring Lampedusa a safe haven," he said referring to the blockade of a Maltese patrol boat that had effected the rescue of asylum seekers. "Nor did the French or Italians have any compunction in suspending the Schengen rules when they deemed it in their interest."

Falzon's criticism drove straight to the heart of Mifsud Bonnici's administration, accusing the minister of being unaware of developments under the ministry's responsibility.

It included spurious episodes of a generator being stolen from the Civil Protection Department and being listed for €7,000 on online listings site Maltapark; to serious cases of prison inmates being placed in an induction area within the notorious 'punishment wing' Division 6.

Falzon said the prison had been overrun by drugs, had no sniffer dogs available to tackle the situation, and that inquiries into inmates' deaths had not yet been concluded.

He also raised the serious shortcomings in the restorative justice reform that had been announced without a proper infrastructure having been provided to cater for inmates' parole applications. "There has been a serious lack of long-term planning on important developments like these... but let's not treat this as some magic wand to cater for the over-population inside Corradino Correctional Facility. It's not simply parole, but restorative justice in the sense that it must lead to victims' compensation by perpretators."

He reported widespread demoralisation amongst the disciplined corps and prison warders, and denounced the "scandalous" decision to have the training of firefighters administered by a private firm.

"The demotivation in the police corps is to be expected in a large outfit, but persisting in doing nothing about it is diabolical," Falzon said, reporting a large exodus of police members.

"There is a lack of belonging in the corps. Too much sophism, where appearances seem to be more important. Even tattooed candidates have been turned away," Falzon said.

"Some of the best officers in the corps have left, and the minister knows that sometimes not even top police officers are aware of who has resigned. I can confirm a particular officer, a Nationalist as it happens, was contacted five months after resigning to reconsider his position."

Falzon also said a schism between police stationed at the general headquarters and village districts had resulted in the latter officers being treated as second-class. "They have come down on these officers like a tonne of bricks for working part-time jobs, while those in the depot get off scott-free.

"I know of one case where a police officer was off-duty, involved in a traffic collision while on his part-time job, threatened the person involved in the traffic incident, and when a police report was filed... nothing happened."

Falzon also claimed that Special Assignment Group officers had been reduced to carrying out maintenance work, while the five SOCOS (scene of the crime officers) units only had four photographic cameras at their disposal.

At one point, the pro-hunting Falzon took umbrage that CABS (Campaign Against Bird Slaughter) had forewarned publicly it would apply for police permits to fly a model airplane that it had used to film instances of illegal hunting practices during the spring season.

"I hope the police corps won't be serving the foreigners - in the colonial past we'd complain that the government serves the Crown - now that we know the flight of the drone was illegal."