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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 MARCH 2025 The PN is wrong to harangue the Speaker Editorial THERE are instances in parliamentary life when adrenalin takes over and MPs flare up, using less than decorous language against each other. This is part of the theatre of parliament; the political bickering and jibes that casual ob- servers are attracted to out of curiosity, for entertainment purposes or to express outrage – or false outrage in many instances. It is to be expected that politics, especially in a parliament made up of only two politi- cal parties unwilling to give the other side an inch, will have its moments when MPs clash and confront each other, using strong lan- guage and disruptive tactics. But there is also a limit to this theatre. When the clashes become puerile; when the debate ig- nores ideas; when the disruptions have no sig- nificant protest value but are only intended to tease the other side; when parliament becomes just another place for machismo; both sides of the House have a duty to take a step back. Within this context, the attitude adopted by the Nationalist Party parliamentary group to- wards Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia is wrong. The constant jibes directed towards the Speaker and the frequent flareups by some PN MPs, particularly Karol Aquilina, clearly point towards a grudge of sorts. This has now drawn in the whole parliamentary group into a per- manent state of battle with the Speaker that is neither salutary nor decorous. The statement condemning the Speaker was unwarranted. Politically, it is even a flawed strategy from which the PN has nothing to gain and everything to lose. The Speaker's rulings may not always be comprehensible. One such instance was Far- rugia's decision last month to turn down an Opposition request for an urgent debate fol- lowing the drug heist from the premises of the Armed Forces of Malta. It is true that when the request was made there was (and still is) an ongoing criminal investigation and parliamentary practice has been to avoid such debates to avoid the risk of prejudicing criminal procedures. But MPs could have debated the calls for political re- sponsibility to be shouldered by the Home Af- fairs Minister without referring to the crim- inal investigation in any way, shape or form. At the very least, MPs could have debated the logic of having the army commander sus- pended immediately but not the minister and the permanent secretary. So, yes, even within existing parliamentary rules and procedures there may have been the elements for such an urgent matter of public importance to be discussed on the day. It is also true that what followed – the Prime Minister's ministerial statement – was more a tirade against the Opposition than a statement to deliver the facts pertinent to the heist. The ministerial statement was akin to the opening salvos of the debate that had just been denied. But even if the Opposition felt that the Speaker let them down, it should have avoid- ed precipitating the situation. Until Karol Aquilina got involved, Opposi- tion leader Bernard Grech had been objecting strongly but in a dignified way to the tone and content of the Prime Minister's statement, asking the Speaker to ensure that the reasons underpinning his ruling to prevent a debate be also respected in the ministerial statement. Things took a turn for the worse when Aqui- lina went into a shouting match, passing snide remarks at the Speaker and accusing him of siding with Labour. The behaviour was unbecoming of an MP and it jars even more now because the Oppo- sition at no point lodged a formal challenge to the Speaker's ruling, something within its rights. The PN should stop its constant harangu- ing of the Speaker and where it needs to show disagreement with his rulings or attitude, this should be done strongly but respectfully. The retort now is a puerile motion put for- ward by the government to condemn Aquili- na's behaviour and show solidarity with the Speaker. This motion is ridiculous because there are other ways of censoring an MP. But alas, what the government is probably inter- ested in is furthering the petty partisan bick- ering because it helps to create a welcome dis- traction from its own problems. Additionally, if both sides of the House are really interested in improving parliamentary procedures they should sit down together and agree on changes to the Standing Orders. The Speaker has no power to change Standing Or- ders. We expect much better from our represent- atives. Quote of the Week "This potential acquisition is not a trophy for us but an opportunity. We will not go for it at any cost or at any price." APS Bank CEO Marcel Cassar when asked about the potential acquisition of a 70% stake in HSBC Bank Malta during the presentation of APS's annual financial results for 2024. MaltaToday 10 years ago 15 March 2015 Cafe Premier owner's lawyer was Lands' consultant STEFANO Filletti, the lawyer rep- resent- ing Café Premier shareholder Mario Camill- eri, was also a consult- ant for the Govern- ment Property Division at the same time that Cities Entertainment Ltd was negotiat- ing with both the government, as well as en- trepreneur Anglu Xuereb to sell their public lease on the Valletta cafeteria. Filletti – unavailable for comment until going to print yesterday – is flagged by the NAO report into the €4.2 million govern- ment reacqui- sition of the Café Premier lease as having played an "ambiguous" role in the affair. The report shows that although the GPD, which paid Filletti a monthly €2,500 retainer until Janu- ary 2014, said the lawyer with- drew from the process in view of his con- flict of interest, Filletti was actually involved at an advanced stage of the reacquisition. MaltaToday has established that in late June 2013, Cities Entertain- ment's co-share- holder, Neville Cur- mi, had reached a deal to sell the en- tire company to Anglu Xuer- eb's AX Holdings for €3.5 million. But on the day scheduled for the signing of the contract, Mario Camilleri failed to show up. The deal fell through. In the background, unbeknown to Curmi, Camilleri was negotiating with the OPM's advisor John Scib- erras, having in June 2013 been of- fered a handsome €4.2 million, net of capital gains tax, for the Café Pre- mier lease. The chronology clearly suggests that Camilleri was confident he would get a better deal from the government, and that he made an attempt to take over the entire com- pany before securing the deal. ...