Speaker Anglu Farrugia this afternoon told PN MP Karol Aquilina to leave the parliament chamber after Aquilina described a ruling Farrugia had given as ‘obscene’.

The PN MP had proposed amendments to a motion filed earlier by the Opposition. However, in a ruling, Farrugia said that the amendments cannot be accepted, since they are dependent on the ‘hypothetical result’ of a future vote on the setting up of a public inquiry into the death of Jean Paul Sofia.

Farrugia said that such amendments can be proposed further down the line, once the original vote is taken. The vote is set to be taken on Wednesday.

Referring to Aquilina’s comments, which led to a brief stop of the parliamentary sitting, PL whip Andy Ellul asked Farrugia for a ruling.

Quoting from procedures Ellul said that no member should talk in such a manner towards any parliamentary procedures or members themselves.

On his part, Aqulina asked for the recusal of Farrugia, if he was going to give a ruling on “something which you are directly involved in”.

The Speaker then told Aquilina to leave the chamber.

On 3 December 2023, a building under construction collapsed in Kordin and Jean Paul Sofia's dead body was found beneath the debris after 16 hours by the Civil Protection Department.

In a parliamentary sitting last Thursday, the two sides of Parliament discussed a motion presented by the Opposition calling for a public inquiry into the incident. The government has refused to accept to set up a public inquiry, with Prime Minister Robert Abela insisting that a magisterial inquiry is enough.