The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bernard Grech, called for Members of Parliament to uphold “orderly language” inside the Parliament and to only criticise arguments put forward within the Chamber, rather than the elected officials behind them. Grech gave this ruling on Wednesday following a remark made by Prime Minister Robert Abela towards Opposition leader Alex Borg on Monday.
Opening Wednesday’s plenary, Deputy Speaker Grech issued this ruling, in reference to a quarrel that emerged within the Parliament between Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition leader Alex Borg in Parliament’s first sitting after the summer recess.
The Prime Minister was not found to have breached parliamentary rules in his remarks, though the Speaker appealed for MPs to carry out debates “with respect, moderation, and appropriate language in order to protect the dignity of the House and its Members.”
Grech stated that this ruling was given after a complaint was filed by Opposition MP Ivan Castillo regarding “objectionable words by the Prime Minister towards the Leader of the Opposition.”
After outlining his trip to New York, the week prior, to attend the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Robert Abela began responding supplementary questions when things got heated between him and Opposition leader Alex Borg.
The Prime Minister had said: “When we made legislative reforms, for example, for the financial crime of tax evasion to be changed from a strictly penal one to an administrative one, do you know what you did? You didn’t come to vote. Why didn’t you come? You know why you weren’t present, and you know for whom you didn’t come vote.”
Prime Minister Abela had also told Borg that “Don’t think that you can point a finger at me without me pointing five at you. Rest assured. If you want, we can go outside and I can mention for whom you didn’t vote [on this] for, I’ll say that too. So, let’s stop there.”
The Opposition leader had responded to these comments that PM Abela should be transparent with the general public and state who he was referring to. Opposition Whip Ivan Castillo requested the Prime Minister to make this clarification or withdraw “the serious allegations” made.
Castillo alleged that the Prime Minister’s allegations against Borg breached Parliament’s rules, specifically Standing Order 60, that “No member shall use offensive or inappropriate language against the character or proceedings of the House or with reference to any member thereof. No ill will shall be attributed to any member.”
Resultantly, the Speaker of the House revisited the hearing and went over the session’s transcript to confirm what was said.
No breach was subsequently found, according to Grech’s ruling on Wednesday. The ruling stated that the words said did not “contain the extremes required” to amount to any breach of Standing Order 60, as claimed by Castillo.
Deputy Speaker Grech, after clearing the Prime Minister of this complaint against Standing Orders, noted that while every MP “should have the full right to express himself freely about the work of Parliament, including where necessary criticising the operation of any other Member in his parliamentary work, this does not detract in any way from the obligation that every Member of the House has to do so fairly and with respect towards his Honourable colleagues, therefore also with respect for the Standing Orders, also so that the dignity of this House is ultimately protected.”