Former PL MP and Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Parnis will be nominated for State honours later in the year, the Labour Party announced on Thursday.

The Labour Party said that the party’s parliamentary group had unanimously backed a motion by Prime Minister Robert Abela to nominate Parnis to be posthumously recognised by the State later in the year when it recognises those who have given a significant contribution to society over the years.

Parnis passed away at the age of 57 this week. 

“In every level he worked in, he only looked at the service he could give to people,” the PL said in a statement.

“He was a politician who was loved because he always brought the interest of others before his without looking at political colours. That’s how he practically applied the principles of social justice, and he was always close to the downtrodden and worked a lot with the elderly,” the party said.

Parnis served as an MP from 1998 to 2022 representing the fourth electoral district having first served as the mayor of his hometown Paola.

He served as Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government and Communities after the 2017 general election, and was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing and Persons with Disability in Robert Abela’s first Cabinet in January 2020.

It’s not the first time that the Prime Minister has nominated a politician who has passed away for State honours: he did the same when former PN deputy leader Robert Arrigo lost his battle with cancer last year.

Arrigo was subsequently posthumously honoured with the Gieh ir-Repubblika on Republic Day. 

Many have clamoured towards the idea of nominating Parnis for the same award, particularly after former PN MP Jason Azzopardi – who was a close friend of Parnis – suggested it on social media.