The comparison between Parliament and a children’s playground is not one which is made all that often, however on certain occasions – particularly when having to watch parliamentary committees discussing matters of a certain degree of sensitivity – we cannot help but be reminded of the squabbles of our primary and secondary school days.

The general behaviour and conduct on show during the Public Accounts Committee, as Konrad Mizzi continued his testimony on the Electrogas project, this past week was one such scenario.

Having plodded through a 700 page or so presentation across four sittings and a total of around 8 hours, Konrad Mizzi threw his toys out of his pram soon after being asked the first question, deciding to stop answering questions and instead stomp up to the headmaster (or in this case, the Speaker) to complain of what the PN MPs were doing to him.

Having been summoned back to the committee, he then sat before the committee for what was left of the first session and all of the second session and obstinately sat in his chair refusing to answer any of the questions put to him.

Of course, such conduct was not reserved to Mizzi. 

At times it seemed like the PN MPs on the committee were doing their best to throw remarks Mizzi’s way in the hope that he falls to their provocation – which is ultimately what happened.

So much so could they not resist throwing needless remarks around, only to provoke the witness, with Mizzi often falling into the trap of saying more than just “we will wait for the Speaker’s ruling before replying”. There were times when his lawyers could be seen touching his arm to stop him from saying more and to stick with the pre-established plan of not answering any questions.

The PL MPs, even if they spent the bulk of the committee sitting scrolling through their mobile phones, were also guilty of such petulant behaviour when they did decide to speak up – with a shouting match erupting between the two sides – with a bemused Mizzi sitting in between – over the ITS school, which Clayton Bartolo – Tourism Minister and one of the PL’s MPs on the committee – is responsible for.

Remarks over the upcoming general election, and the PN’s dismal survey results in connection with them, were also not in short supply.

This type of conduct is not exclusive to the Public Accounts Committee.  The number of times that a Parliamentary session – be it in a committee such as this, or in the plenary itself – has descended into a quite frankly pathetic shouting match between MPs on the two sides is too much to be counted.

Politicians – and more so, each respective party leader – have harped on about the need for the country’s political landscape to mature and for debates on policy issues to be more civil and good-natured so that the country can move forward.

Maybe party leaders should start the path to political maturity by telling their MPs to not act like children in the country’s highest political institution.