Two no confidence motions against Mizzi, Schembri in the pipeline

The government comfortably won last night’s no confidence vote, but two fresh motions – against energy minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri respectively – are already in the works.

Independent MP Marlene Farrugia last night presented a no confidence motion against Mizzi, and she confirmed with MaltaToday that she plans to table a separate motion against Schembri if Joseph Muscat fails to fire him from his post. 

“Everybody is responsible for their own actions, and so votes against Mizzi and Schembri merit separate discussions,” she said.

Parliament’s Business Committee will now convene to set a date for Farrugia’s no confidence motion against Mizzi, which PN leader Simon Busuttil already pledged to support.

The former Labour MP didn’t give an indication as to when she plans to file a motion against Schembri, but she urged Muscat to remove him before she does so.

“A week is a long time in politics, and even an hour is a long time at the moment,” she said. “As chief of staff, Keith Schembri occupies a crucial role in government, and is essentially the government’s face. He has to go though, as he is a blot on Malta’s reputation.”

The two motions will oblige Labour MPs to specifically speak about Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri, whose offshore Panamanian companies were named in the Panama Papers leak.

During Monday’s debate, the Opposition frequently chastised Labour MPs for toasting the government’s achievements rather than speaking about ‘Panamagate’. However, the Labour MPs retorted that the Opposition’s motion of no confidence was against the government as a whole.

Farrugia told MaltaToday that the scandal has overshadowed the Labour government’s positive achievements.

“This government has done a lot of good work, such as introducing ethics as a subject in primary schools to teach children right from wrong. However, all of this is getting lost in the Panama case that has paralyzed the government.

“What is the alternative though? This government has a five-year mandate, but it must act as the movement it was prior to the election and stick to its pre-electoral promises of transparency, meritocracy, accountability and ‘Malta Taghna Lkoll’.”

Farrugia, an outspoken critic of the Labour government, delivered a powerful speech in the House on Monday in which she claimed that people in power are trying to dupe the people.

“We have to view Panamagate from a wider perspective. While we as MPs were elected to represent the people, I was not part of that closed group inside Labour that was already taking decisions about its energy policies, and I was shadowing the utilities sector.”

“Opening a company in Panama is enough for the Prime Minister to request the resignation of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri. But if nothing happened so far, then it is easy to surmise that there is something worse afoot…”