In what is set to be his final major address at the historic Sette Giugno commemorations, the Speaker of the Maltese House of Representatives, Anglu Farrugia, delivered a stirring, comprehensive, and uncompromising call for sweeping institutional reform.
Following the general election and with reports widely pointing to Carmelo Abela as his imminent successor, Farrugia used his remaining time on the national stage to urge incoming members of parliament to radically elevate the standards of the country's democracy.
Farrugia opened his address by anchoring his argument in the concrete productivity of the 14th Legislature, flashing a series of immense figures to the gathered crowd. He revealed that during this term alone, 459 sittings of the House were held, 551 committee meetings took place, and 90 rulings were delivered by the Chair. On the legislative front, 179 Bills were presented, out of which 161 successfully became Acts of Parliament, alongside 471 motions, including 46 private members' motions.
He also highlighted that the backbench and opposition utilized democratic tools heavily, putting forward around 36,000 parliamentary questions to the Executive. However, Farrugia explicitly warned against reading these numbers as sterile statistics out of context. Instead, he described them as living evidence of an active institution performing its essential function to hold power accountable.
Farrugia insisted that respect toward Parliament must be absolute, calling it a moral, constitutional, and national duty rather than a mere formality or beautiful words tailored to fit a patriotic holiday. He demanded that the next phase of development for the House be deeply institutional, urging politicians to stop treating their own Standing Orders as dusty relics and start using them as living tools to make legislative work swifter, clearer, and deeper where the public demands seriousness.
Farrugia pushed for standing committees to transform from mere names on paper into true laboratories of scrutiny, knowledge, and solutions. To achieve this, he called for a major shift toward pre-legislative work, more genuine public consultation, and rigorous impact assessments so that laws are measured by how they actually improve the lives of everyday citizens.
Looking further into the future, Farrugia detailed a vision for an open, modern, and highly accessible Parliament that actively speaks the language of younger generations without losing its inherent dignity. He championed bolder engagement in civic education, direct meetings with students, better digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, and the strategic integration of artificial intelligence and new technology.
He stressed that Malta's voice on the international stage-defending humanitarian law, protecting human life, and building diplomatic bridges despite the country's small geographic size-relies entirely on its domestic credibility. That international trust, he noted, cannot be built overnight or through empty declarations, but through presence, consistency, and seriousness.
The outgoing Speaker did not hold back when addressing the internal failures of current and aspiring lawmakers, firmly stating that respect cannot be demanded from the public if MPs allow trust to be broken by petty attitudes.
He directly challenged the chamber on unjustified absenteeism, noting that politicians cannot ask for seriousness if their words are used as weapons instead of instruments of truth. He argued that when the speed of online media replaces the weight of argument, and when partisanship conceals the truth, the institution fails the standards that the Maltese people expect from a mature Republic.
Closing his address with a poignant reminder that Parliament is nobody's personal property - belonging neither to the Government, the Opposition, the Speaker, nor a single generation - Farrugia challenged the incoming lawmakers to remember that political autonomy and broadcasting transparency demand less theatricality and greater responsibility, ensuring the people's voice is never shut behind a closed door or an elite procedure.