Parliament closes ahead of schedule

Parliament this evening closed ahead of schedule, as discussion on a law took faster than both sides of the House were expecting it to.

The House was discussing a Bill to transpose an EU law on the Single Resolution Fund, but discussion concluded earlier before both whips had expected to. Finance minister Edward Scicluna and Opposition MP Claudio Grech both gave short speeches before the Chamber was turned into a committee, that passed the two-page law quickly.

The next topic on the agenda was an ongoing debate on a Bill to decriminalise the vilification of religion. Education minister Evarist Bartolo was in possession, but he wasn’t available to continue his speech.

Both Labour whip Godfrey Farrugia and Opposition whip David Agius therefore agreed to suspend Parliament at 7:30pm, an hour and a half early.