Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said Monday that the Maltese Parliament has become a “toothless” and “is not equipped to carry out its duties in 2021.”

During a brief speech commemorating 100 years of the Maltese Parliament, Grech looked back at the achievements that were made over the years.

Grech spoke about the state of the House of Representatives, saying that “in recent weeks we’ve had a committee inviting an MP three times to come forward and answer for his actions. However, he continues to show disrespect to the Maltese people.”

He was referring to MP Konrad Mizzi’s no-shows before the Public Accounts Commitee.

Grech said the Nationalist Party believes that Parliament deserves more respect from its members and that MPs need to show more respect to the people who elected them.

“Here, no one should be above anyone else,” Grech insisted.

He also expressed his disagreement on the use of rulings and parliamentary precedents to cover up someone’s behaviour as the people should be the sole sovereign in this Parliament.

“I believe it was a mistake when this House gave in to Joseph Muscat rather than asking him to answer for his actions. I hope such mistakes are not made in the future,” Grech said.

Grech noted that the House must be the place where the people demand accountability, saying that “the few tools we have to doing so have become a farce.”

“We field parliamentary questions and the Ministers concerned are not even present to answer them,” Grech said.

He added that the scrutiny that the people expect needs to come from both sides of the House.

“Government backbenchers are also supposed to srutinize ministers but how is this possible when they’ve all been bought?,” Grech asked.

“Look at all the backbenchers – they’re all chairmen of some authority and receive a better salary than a minister,” Grech said.