Mr Galdes, former Qormi mayor, is a full-time MEPA official who, contrary to the case of people in government employment, is not asked to stop his employment while he is a member of Parliament.

Sources told this paper that the reason why Mr Pullicino has not been replying to Mr Galdes’ questions is that he is asking for advice from the Attorney General on the correct procedure and interpretation of the Standing Orders to be followed because of possible conflicts of interest on Mr Galdes’s part.

Theoretically, Mr Galdes may come to know of anything due to his employment, ask a question regarding this information, be the one who drafts the reply for the minister to read out, and be the Opposition MP to question the minister about it.

A case in point, for instance, could be a question regarding the local plan for Qormi, where he could not just draw on his present role at MEPA but also his former role as Qormi mayor.

It may also be that Mr Galdes, an energetic and eager MP, still has to learn the ropes. The issue of conflict of interest in a small country such as Malta, and with part-time MPs, crops up too frequently for comfort. There is a fine line to be drawn, for instance, between a lawyer MP asking a question which somehow relates to his profession as a lawyer and asking a question with regard to a constituent. Many times the constituent is the client and vice-versa.