Speaker 'censures' Prime Minister's words

After more than two hours pondering on the Opposition MP's request to run a ruling on the Prime Minister's accusations against MP Tonio Fenech, ,a nervous Speaker Anglu Farrugia ruled that Muscat's words were harsh.

"The words used by the Prime Minister 'incitement' (xewwex) and 'undermine' were harsh" and equated to offensive or inappropriate Farrugia said.

The Speaker ruled that "the choice of words was unfortunate," however failed to ask the Prime Minister to make a formal apology. He then went on to proceed with the session's adjournment.

On hearing this Fenech asked whether this meant that the Prime Minister's words were in breach of Parliamentary conduct, the Speaker said "the ruling is what it is."

Approached by Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil as the session was adjourned by deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech, Farrugia could be heard explaining that although his ruling did not equate to a breach of privilege, he had "seriously censured" the Prime Minister's words.

Earlier, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat accused the Opposition and former finance minister Tonio Fenech of "undermining" Malta's credibility by badmouthing the government's policies at state utility, Enemalta and "installing unfounded doubts" with the International Monetary Fund.

This provoked a strong reaction by the Opposition MP Tonio Fenech who demanded an apology from Muscat. On seeing that Muscat would not retract his statement, Fenech asked the Speaker Anglu Farrugia to deliver a ruling citing Parliamentary Standing Orders.

Article 60 of the Standing Orders says that "no member shall use offensive or unbecoming words against the character or proceedings of the House or in reference to any Member thereof. No bad motive shall be attributed to any member."

The following article, says that any member having used objectionable words "and not retracting the same, or offering apologies for the use of thereof, to the satisfaction of the House, shall be censured or otherwise dealt with as the House may think fit, and any Member called to order shall sit down unless permitted to explain."

The ruling was provoked by Muscat's reply to the Opposition's questions on his statement on last week's EU Council Meeting.

"At a moment when Enemalta is under observation of the EU and rating agencies it is very important to make it clear that the government is not subsidising Enemalta. We will allow the Opposition to undermine the government by giving a false impression of the state of affairs," Muscat said.

Calling for a point of order, former Tonio Fenech denied that the Opposition had met the International Monetary Fund to undermine the government and said that the PN only had a consultation meeting as the Labour Party did on many occasions while in Opposition.

Fenech insisted that in his meetings with the IMF he had only defended Malta's banking system and the financial situation, but admitted that had noted that the government did not seem as committed as the previous one to rein in the deficit.

"I hope we do not return to the Mintoff days where anyone who criticised the government is labelled as a traitor," Fenech said.

"The Standing Orders impede members of this House to attribute a malicious intention to what another member says. I therefore ask the Prime Minister to apologise, otherwise I ask for your ruling Mr Speaker," Fenech said.

However, Muscat failed to track back and said: "Mr President, Fenech's problem is that he still believes that he is in government. We know what you told IMF but I will not breach confidentiality. What I do know is that we had to toil day and night to rectify the bad impression Fenech gave the IMF. He (Fenech) should be ashamed of what he did. I have nothing to apologise for and In will not take back what I have just said.

On hearing this Fenech jumped out of his seat and asked the Speaker to pass a ruling and despite being given more than one chance to clarify his statement, Joseph Muscat did not apologise and the Speaker of the House suspended the session in order to retreat to his office and ponder on Fenech's request for a ruling.

During the session's suspension which lasted over two hours, MPs lingered around and shared a few jokes as some MPs resorted to their tablets and laptops to kill time. At one point, in an attempt to break the boredom that descended onto the Chamber, home affairs minister Maunuel Mallia rang the Chamber's bell which normally signals the Speaker's arrival. This false alarm solicited smiles on both sides of the House as MPs waited patiently. 

The last time the Speaker was asked to give a ruling was at the height of the political tension which preceded the downfall of the Gonzi administration in December, where former Speaker Michael Frendo had delivered his ruling at 2am.