What happened in our Parliament last week was incredulous. The motion being voted on was the now infamous power station extension contract. This contract has been confirmed as having a huge number of irregularities that ought to have led to its suspension. The Labour Party filed a motion in Parliament of basic censure (and a bit more). The motion would not have led to the resignation of the government if it wasn’t passed and would have led to some more embarrassment for the government. But what occurred verges on the incredible.

PN parliamentary member Mario Galea declared that he was voting in favour of the motion. This may have been erroneous, or otherwise, but in reality this was not the issue. We all know what happened afterwards. All hell broke loose as prominent members of the government then indicated that they had heard Dr Justyne Caruana on behalf of the Labour Party voting against the motion. This has turned out to be a blatant lie. Some points need to be stressed.

PN media apologists have come to the fore once more with their attempts at derailing the main issue. The issue was not the vote itself but the lie perpetrated by the government that Dr Caruana voted against the motion. I have seen at least one programme on TV that was truly absurd in its attempt to make a big issue out of the fact that Members of Parliament are not allowed to change their vote. This might need to be changed but the big issue is that a Member of Parliament lied about another Member of Parliament. This is nothing but a simple lack of respect for one another. Has the government become so used to having it all its own way that it has now resorted to blatant untruths? We have got used to governmental arrogance leading to the head in the sand syndrome, but this is too much!

Then again why do I still insist on expecting better? This government, in a previous legislature, had declared that the business of Parliament was not really important since it had a five-seat majority and could do what it liked. Now its majority is down to half a seat and the business of Parliament is no longer a given. The government has had to appease a number of grumbling backbenchers to keep its motions flowing. Now we have a situation of utter disrespect which is truly shameful.

Finally, I cannot but refer to the oft-used phrase: stand up and be counted. This phrase can be used in diverse manners and context. What it means in simple terms is that, when tested, real men and women stick to their convictions even when courage is required.

Mike, as speaker of the House you failed the test!

Simon Micallef Stafrace