Parliament to set up new standing committee for economic and financial affairs

A new standing committee for economic and financial affairs is to be set up in Parliament, aimed at scrutinizing and discussing economic and financial reports.

Flanked by government whip Carmelo Abela and opposition whip David Agius, Speaker Anglu Farrugia said the motion proposing the setting up of the committee will be presented in parliament next week.

The motion will be presented by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna. The committee, whose members are yet to be announced, will be made up of four government members and three opposition MPs.

"The committee will hold the powers to scrutinise each report, with the powers to ask for the presence of government officials, including the Central Bank governor," Farrugia said.

Such reports would include those penned by the EU, international organizations and domestic fora.

Farrugia reminded that his predecessor Michael Frendo had already worked on the setting up of this committee.

A select committee which existed under the PN administration was the select committee for the strengthening of democracy. It was however dissolved after the then Labour opposition walked out of a meeting, never to return.

Asked whether government would be setting it up again, Abela said no discussions have yet been made on select committees. "We are not excluding any committees at this stage and we don't exclude the setting up of new ones," he said.

Meanwhile, Speaker Anglu Farrugia also confirmed he has already looked at the map of the new parliament and confirmed there were ongoing discussions with architect Renzo Piano.

He also denied having ever discussed the possibility of being appointed Speaker before Joseph Muscat was appointed Prime Minister.

On the MPs salary, now to be granted according to the number of parliamentary sittings they attend, Farrugia said that the House Business Committee - with Louis Grech as Leader of the House - will be discussing how this will be worked out, including attendence during each sitting.