The Speaker of the House of Representatives on Monday condemned the behaviour of Nationalist MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici who, last Tuesday, stood in front a camera to block filming of Prime Minister Robert Abela.
Farrugia ruled that Mifsud Bonnici’s actions were “completely deplorable” and “a clear insult” towards Parliament’s rules and dignity.
In a ruling given Monday, Speaker Farrugia said that Mifsud Bonnici’s actions not only created disorder within the House, but also restricted viewers from clearly following what was taking place at the time. He noted that this was especially negative against viewers who are hard-of-hearing, as her obstruction also blocked the visual of the person describing what was happening in sign language.
The Speaker noted that Mifsud Bonnici had apologised for the incident and he was now considering it closed.
During last Tuesday's sitting, when Abela was concluding his two-hour speech on the budget, Mifsud Bonnici - who is assistant whip - stood in front of the camera that was focusing on Abela. She had earlier attempted to complain that Abela had exceeded his speaking time.
The Opposition’s Deputy Whip apologised the following day, stating that she had signalled to make a point of order about the Prime Minister’s speaking time but was denied the opportunity by Speaker Farrugia, leading to her to block TVM’s live feed.
The Speaker said that parliamentary procedures already exist to allow MPs to appropriately signal when they believe to observe a disagreement over plenary's proceedings.
The Speaker stated that through these procedures, MPs can "always" seek remedy over one of these instances. Speaker Farrugia added that such a remedy must certainly not to be to repeat Mifsud Bonnici's camera obstruction.
In a separate ruling, requested by Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami, the Speaker ruled that after reviewing camera footage related to the time when the alleged incident took place, it resulted that no person present on the Strangers' Gallery insulted Paula Mifsud Bonnici.
The Speaker said he had also spoken to the usher who was presented in the Gallery at the time.