Speaker fails to give ruling on Carm Mifsud Bonnici motion

Acting Speaker of the House Censu Galea has said a ruling on whether the Opposition's motion calling for the censure of home affairs minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici can be amended to call for his resignation, will be given at a later stage during the debate on the motion.

At the start of this evening's debate, as Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami commenced his address, Labour deputy leader Anglu Farrugia interrupted the MP's speech and asked the Speaker whether he intends to announce his decision today.

While making it clear that the decision will certainly not be announced today, Galea said the ruling will be given at a later stage. Pressed by Farrugia and Nationalist MP Franco Debono to declare when the ruling will be announced, Galea could only say that "the ruling will be given before the end of the debate."

The vote on the Opposition's motion will be taken on Wednesday 30 May. By and large, similar rulings are given in the first sitting following the request, however the Acting Speaker insisted that the ruling will be given at an unspecified later date, without giving any reason for the delay.

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

Opposition MP Michael Falzon moved this amendment at the end of his speech in the first of nine sittings allocated to the motion debate.

But deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg objected to this demand and asked for a ruling by the Speaker of the House, on the grounds that such an amendment could not be accepted because it changed the nature of the motion.

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.

Acting Speaker Ċensu Galea rebuked Debono and said he would not accept comments other than on the opposition's motion amendment. "Honourable Debono, you are not the be all and end all of this House," Galea told Debono.

To this, Debono angrily said "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."

At the start of today's sitting Debono, sitting at the very far end on the seat closest to the Speaker's seat, objected to the minutes of yesterday's sitting because he claimed that part of  his intervention was not quoted faithfully.

In his intervention, Beppe Fenech Adami defended Mifsud Bonnici's record as home affairs minister. Citing the government's role in the Libya conflict and the introduction of the reparatory justice reform and the achievements of the police corps in fighting criminality, Fenech Adami said the home affairs minister had done a very good job and made Malta proud.

Fenech Adami, a parliamentary assistant in the Mifsud Bonnici's ministry said "I am proud to have worked as parliamentary assistant under Carm Mifsud Bonnici. It has given me a unique insight to his efforts."

Labour MP Jose Herrera was the next to address the House. “I will neither get personal nor be aggressive,” Herrera said.

The Opposition spokesperson on justice explained that a motion of censure equates to a confidence motion in British parliamentary practices, on which the Maltese Parliament bases its rules. He said this means that the Opposition’s request to amend the motion does not constitute a change in the motion’s nature and should be allowed.

Herrera explained that one of the Opposition’s motives behind the motion is the fact that laws ruled as being unconstitutional by courts remained unchanged.

He added that the Opposition was also concerned by the fact that the government was using a private company for DNA services. Herrera noted that “It was about time that the government invests in its own facilities so that private and sensitive information is no longer held by a private company.”

Herrera criticised the state of affairs at the Corradino prison which does not have a full time doctor and also lambasted the hastily introduced reparatory justice system which he said “only exists on paper.”

Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech said the motion reflects “the Opposition’s opportunism” and Labour’s negative tactics.

Franco Debono, in one of his numerous interruptions to raise a point of order reminded Zammit Dimech that the motion he had presented on justice and home affairs has never been discussed and no date has been set for it to be discussed.

The Opposition leader, Joseph Muscat also raised a point of order and said that Zammit Dimech's arguments legitimise the Opposition's request to amend the motion.

The government MP retorted by saying that "either the Opposition disagreed with its own motion, or it has forgotten how to write motions."

Zammit Dimech said the Opposition's motion was vindictive rather than being positive, serious and propositive. He added that Mifsud Bonnici deserves the Parliament's respect for his integrity

The Sliema MP ended his intervention by quoting US entrepreneur and one of the richest men in the world, Warren Buffet, "In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you."

In his intervention, Labour MP Evarist Bartolo cited the case of Nicholas Azzopardi who died from injuries suffered in an alleged beating by police officers while in custody. He said nothing has been done to resolve the four-year-old case and put forward a number of questions which remain unanswered.

Bartolo asked, what happened before Azzopardi's arrest, what happened while Azzopardi was in police custody, what happened while Azzopardi was in hospital and why the inquires carried out remain inconclusive.

The Labour MP also asked "how is it possible for the police force to investigate itself?" and called the inquiries "incestuous". Bartolo said the inquiries carried out were more concerned with clearing the police corps' name than with finding the truth.

Referring to Mifsud Bonnici, Bartolo said the Azzopardi family is "hurt" because whenever they asked for help they always found closed doors and stressed that the family will not be fooled by the re-opening of the inquiry on the eve of the election. He added that Mifsud Bonnici deserves to be censored on this case alone.