The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anglu Farrugia, said that nobody is allowed into the chamber’s Strangers’ Gallery “by right”.

He was answering, through the Clerk of the House Ray Scicluna, to a complained filed by lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona after members of the public were not allowed inside Parliament on Monday.

It was the day when the Opposition walked out of the House because it is boycotting all events in which the outgoing Prime Minister is present, and later had Labour MPs trapped inside the building by protesters.

Borg Cardona said he had the right to attend the sitting, but in his reply the Speake referred to him to Permanent Order 165 that says that no member of the public is allowed inside “by right”. The Speaker also has the right, according to Permanent Order 170, to request the removal of the public at any time deemed fit.

The Speaker also noted that Borg Cardona in his letter informed the Speaker that he and other persons had entered the building because they wanted to follow procedures in the chamber. The Speaker said that House officers had informed him that the persons who had entered the building had informed them that they (the members of the public) wanted to go to the Opposition’s room.

This discrepancy could amount to a case of misleading the House officers and perhaps also a lack of obedience in the Parliament building, where the Speaker has full control.

The Speaker said that it was the first time in his seven years as Speaker that he had closed the Strangers’ Gallery to the public. He had done this because of incidents that were taken place and he had informed the House that this was a temporary measure.