The Speaker of the House of Representatives has chosen to turn down a request from the Opposition to hold an urgent debate on a motion of no confidence in the Justice Minister, Edward Zammit Lewis, which was filed by the Opposition last Monday.

Anglu Farrugia justified this decision stating that what is being reported about text exchanges the minister had with the man now accused of being a mastermind in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia has been in the public domain for months. His argument is that the minister had testified on the matter in the public inquiry a year ago.

It does not fit the definition of urgency as required by regulations, he argued, and since even the government did not agree that such a debate should be held, he was rejecting the Opposition’s request.

Pressure is mounting on Zammit Lewis as calls for his resignation increase following the publication of chats between him and Yorgen Fenech. A protest was held just outside his ministry on Tuesday, demanding his resignation.

The minister has resisted these calls and said that he has always acted with integrity. The Prime Minister has so far also ignored them.

The Speaker’s decision comes at the right time to avoid further embarrassment to Zammit Lewis. For Parliament to be reconvened with urgency during the summer holidays to discuss a motion of no confidence would have spelled disaster for the minister, who is already also under fire for referring to Labour voters as “fools”.

But the Speaker came to his rescue once again, and it is not the first time that Anglu Farrugia’s decisions favoured the side of the government. The Speaker defends himself saying that he is only applying the rules.

Just a few weeks ago, the Speaker voted for further investigations into the behaviour of Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar, and this after the Standards Commissioner had compiled a lengthy assessment of her participation in a property deal involving Fenech (again).

Farrugia also abstained rather than cast a vote when a parliamentary committee was equally divided on the adoption or otherwise of a report by the Standards Commissioner which found that OPM Minister Carmelo Abela was prima facie in breach of ethics over an advert that was published in the media.

Earlier, he ruled that Joseph Muscat cannot be summoned by the Standards Committee following a probe regarding the appointment of Konrad Mizzi as an MTA consultant, days after Mizzi had resigned from the post of Tourism Minister.

There have been occasions when the Speaker did not accept parliamentary questions from the Opposition benches and, when Adrian Delia was Opposition Leader, Farrugia had rejected a call for an urgent debate in the House on developments in the investigation following the assassination of Caruana Galizia.

All of the above – and there were other occasions too – show that the Speaker has more or less acted as a gatekeeper for the government. In the many times he has been tasked with making a crucial decision, Farrugia has invariably selected to take the government’s side.

No doubt, his decisions are seen to be good moves by the government, but throw great doubt on his ability to be impartial.