Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1522096
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JUNE 2024 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS magius@mediatoday.com.mt KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Speaker wants MPs' speaking time in parliament slashed Aria complex owners seek tenant's eviction for subletting premises to tenant's company ANGLU Farrugia rolled out a list of changes he would like to see happening in parliament, includ- ing cutting speaking times and discussions on Ombudsman re- ports. WHEN speaking at the commem- oration of the Sette Giugno riots on Friday, Farrugia also called for a citizen's right of reply to be in- troduced. The Speaker of the House sug- gested that speaking time in par- liament be cut down to not more than 15 to 20 minutes. Parliamen- tary speeches are around 45 min- utes long and to fill time, many MPs end up repeating what has already been said or go off at a tangent. The time allotted to MPs jars with what happens in the Euro- pean Parliament where MEPs get between three and five minutes each to speak in plenary. Farrugia said parliament should have a structure by which MPs will be able to discuss Ombuds- man reports and opinions either in a committee of plenary sitting. The Ombudsman is an officer of parliament and the office's reports are always tabled in the House by the Speaker. However, unlike reports compiled by the National Audit Office, which are debated in the Public Accounts Committee, MPs do not debate the Ombuds- man's findings. Farrugia said the Ombudsman was "justified" in his criticism that no action or discussion is ever held in parliament on the issues he raises. The Sette Giugno riots, which left four Maltese people dead, led to the formation of Malta's first parliament under the Amery-Mil- ner Constitution that guaranteed internal autonomy. Farrugia expanded on several issues he felt could make parlia- ment more efficient and effective. One proposal he floated was a citizen's right of reply to allow people aggrieved by a parliamen- tary speech, which is protected by privilege, to rebut any accusations or statements made in their re- gard. He said guidelines on advertising created by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life should become part of the Code of Ethics for Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries. The guidelines currently do not have the force of law and are nei- ther part of the code of ethics and are thus ignored at will. The lacu- na means that parliament's ethics committee cannot take action if a minister is found to have breached these guidelines. The guidelines were drawn up by the previous standards czar George Hyzler after he found that former minister Carmelo Abela guilty of an ethics breach when he spent public funds on adverts that were intended only to boost his image. Nonetheless, back then the Eth- ics Committee could not agree on sanctioning Carmelo Abela, with government members vot- ing against the motion. Farrugia, who chairs the committee had abstained from the vote, insisting that the ministerial code of ethics lacked clarity on the issue. Hyzler subsequently drew up guidelines regulating government advertising but they remain unen- forceable until today. Anglu Farrugia urges change in parliamentary rules to allow dedicated discussions on Ombudsman reports and opinions Speaker Anglu Farrugia THE owners of the Aria night- club in Iklin have asked a court to evict a company which or- ganises events there, alleging it breached its rental contract. The alleged breach concerns the subletting of the premises to a third company, owned by the same person – Dominic Micallef – who operates the nightclub. Micallef owns the now de- funct Tattingers nightclub in Rabat, which he was recently trying to develop into a hotel. The company that owns Aria is accusing Micallef of operat- ing from and hosting events at an illegal development, which MEPA is requesting to be re- moved. In an application filed recent- ly before the Rent Regulation Board by Aria's owners, Mar- tan Limited, against Dominic Micallef and Signature Enter- tainment Festivals Limited, claiming that DJRL Dance Ltd had leased the property in No- vember 2021 and that since then, it had also carried out a number of illegal works there, which had resulted in enforce- ment orders. Martan Ltd said that it had recently discovered that DJRL Dance had also sublet the premises to Signature Enter- tainment Limited. Despite having previously bound itself to remove the il- legal structures, DJRL Dance had failed to do so and had ob- structed Martan when it had attempted to do so itself, reads the application, which was signed by lawyers Franco Galea and Chantel Muscat. As a result of this, Martan are requesting the termination of the lease and filed separate court proceedings requesting a pronouncement to that effect. They are also asking that DJRL Dance be evicted from Mar- tan's property. Micallef and another group of companies that he is linked to are also the subjects of a sepa- rate case filed by Seasport Ltd, which is seeking €1,270,000 from Micallef's SEG Conces- sions Limited, in connection with the sale of the Mambo Beach Club in Armier. In the Seasport case, the plain- tiffs allege that SEG Conces- sions was diverting the takings of the Beach Club operation to its sister companies, shifting funds from one company to another to avoid paying priv- ileged creditors. The court is being asked to "lift the corpo- rate veil" of SEG Concessions Ltd, SEG MBO Ltd and SEG Holdings Ltd and put aside the companies' separate juridical personalities to observe that Micallef is the sole beneficial owner of them all.