Only last week, we penned a leading article saying that the behaviour of politicians in our parliament was unbecoming of what one would expect in a modern democracy.

We mentioned that thankfully, we have moved on from the 1980s when members of one side of the house would physically cross the floor to accost members on the other side of House. Only recently, parliament moved in to its new home, with a circular Continental layout which was hoped, would lead to less direct confrontation between one party and another. How sadly wrong we were. Last week we had the outburst of Health Minister Konrad Mizzi who rounded on Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and shouted repeatedly “You are not fit for purpose” and then, in Maltese “Shame on you” (isthi, isthi). That whole performance was in relation to the Gozo whistleblower and the Mater Dei inquiry.

On that occasion, Dr Mizzi was admonished by the Speaker, who told him to pipe down and address the Seat of Parliament with more respect. Wednesday night’s outburst stemmed from a parliamentary question on the works for votes issue in Gozo. It was sparked again by Konrad Mizzi, who shouted across the floor “Go into hiding” (mur inheba). This then turned into a shouting match with MPs from both sides of the House hurling insults at each other. Speaker Anglu Farrugia unceremoniously suspended the sitting and walked back to his chambers. He later emerged and scolded all the MPs, like schoolchildren, and reminded them that the House of Representatives was the highest institution in the land, and not a flea market on some side-street.

We wonder if the aplomb of his words struck home, given that the Monti is now going to be housed right next to parliament. But the real point here is that political respect towards adversaries and, more importantly, respect towards the institution of Parliament is fast going down the drain

Government whip Godfrey Farrugia said that both sides of the House needed work on their behaviour in parliament. We could not agree more. The behaviour of MPs is fast degenerating and the only good thing about it all is that with the new IT system and parliament TV, people can see for themselves and not have to rely on second hand eyewitness reports by the press.

Parliament is a pillar of any democratic state, and as part of the fourth establishment, which is the press, we cannot but remark that the behaviour we have experienced of late is unbecoming of what Malta aspires to be as a modern democracy within the European Union.  We urge all our MPs to evaluate their behaviour and revise it accordingly. Appearing on a political programme and wagging your finger while saying “shame on you” is one thing, but shouting it out in parliament while the Seat of the House is telling you to quieten down and compose yourself is another thing entirely. Just compare to the gravitas of the House of Commons in the UK where SNP MPs were roundly and soundly put in their place who bellowed out “Order, Order!”when they decided to break into applause, which is against the practice of the UK parliament. We hope that we will not have to publish another leading article dealing with the same issue next week.