The House of Representatives has been adjourned tonight, hours after Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has demanded a ruling by the Speaker, saying that there are substantial differences between the Budget Document published by the government yesterday and presented to parliament and the actual Budget speech.

Dr Busuttil said that this was serious matter and that the opposition expected a ruling immediately, however, the speaker said that the orders of the day would carry on and that he would give his ruling as soon as possible. By the time the House adjourned, the Speaker had not yet delivered his ruling.

In his complaint, Dr Busuttil said the approved minutes of the House of Monday's session mentioned both the document and the speech.

Among the differences, he said, was how the document said that Gozitan students in Malta would be given an €800 increase to their allowance while the Budget speech spoke of a €300 increase.

He said that the government should explain which was the real Budget, the one read out by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, or the one tabled in parliament.

Government whip Godfrey Farrugia said the government had already explained in a statement that the document was issued by mistake and had been withdrawn. That was a working document, and what really counted was the Budget Speech which was delivered by Prof. Scicluna

Dr Busuttil said two different documents had been tabled in the House and reported in the minutes. He said that everyone was talking about the budget and people deserved to know what was going to be discussed in the coming days.

Dr Farrugia said the working document had been withdrawn and a new document was being printed. Dr Busuttil said one could not simply withdraw a document once it had been minuted.  

Mario de Marco said the government side had not requested a correction of the minutes before they were approved. As a result the House now had two contradictory statements before it. The Speaker, Anglu Farrugia, said he understood that the Budget Document would be substituted. 

Dr de Marco said the document had not been withdrawn and the Opposition was requesting a ruling on its validity.

The Speaker said he would rule as soon as possible. In a statement, the government reacted through the Department of Information, saying that Dr Busuttil was showing people that he was negative, destructive and in a state of panic.

The government said that the PN leader was trying to use an administrative mistake to score points. The government said facts show that the opposition leader just has "nothing left to say".