The Nationalist Party has called for a parliamentary committee to discuss the major disruption to government digital systems after an apparent surge in users checking MATSEC results affected access to several public services.
In a statement issued by PN Shadow Minister Darren Crabott, it states how the PN said the Standing Committee on Information Technology, Technology and Artificial Intelligence should convene to examine what happened, establish what safeguards were in place and ensure a similar outage is not repeated.
According to the party, the eID system appeared to collapse after a large number of students logged in to check their MATSEC results, affecting access to services including MyHealth, eCourts, eApps, MyTax and the Malta Business Registry system.
The PN said the incident raised serious questions about the resilience, capacity and reliability of the government's digital infrastructure.
It expressed solidarity with students who were left waiting for their results, saying they faced additional frustration and stress because the system had apparently not been prepared for what the party described as a foreseeable increase in traffic.
The Opposition said the disruption also affected patients and doctors seeking access to medical results, lawyers trying to use the court website, architects and others requiring access to the Planning Authority website, as well as professionals in the financial sector who were unable to access tax and company registry services.
Opposition MPs Michael Piccinino and George Vital Zammit, who sit on the Standing Committee on Information Technology, Technology and Artificial Intelligence, have formally requested that the incident be discussed by the committee.
The PN said it expected the government to provide a full account of what happened, explain what preventive and contingency measures were in place and outline the steps that would be taken to avoid a repeat of the disruption.
"Digital transformation cannot be credible unless the systems on which citizens, businesses and professionals depend are secure, reliable and capable of coping with demand," the party said.