Nationalist MP Censu Galea was approved as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, with 34 votes in favour and 33 votes against during yesterday morning’s parliamentary session.

The need to appoint a new Deputy Speaker arose after the former Deputy Speaker, Labour MP Carmelo Abela, resigned in the wake of the uproar there was in Parliament following the mistaken vote by Parliamentary Secretary for Elderly and Community Care, Mario Galea.

Following Mr Galea’s mistake, Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg said that Labour MP Justyne Caruana had also voted mistakenly, voting against the Opposition’s motion. He also said that Mr Galea had immediately corrected his mistake, but the Opposition didn’t accept this.

Dr Abela said that he decided to resign because he felt that his values had been betrayed and the situation in the house was unacceptable.

The Opposition said they were still waiting for an apology from the government over the allegations that were made about Ms Caruana.