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GSD Opposition's underhand tactics flout
accepted standards of Parliamentary
cooperation
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While the Government are generous and accommodating, the Opposition remain spiteful for having lost the election
The decision of the GSD Opposition to vote against a motion on the adjournment at a meeting of Parliament last week was an underhand tactic which goes against the practice and convention of Parliament. It also goes against the spirit of cooperation in Parliament that the new Government has been trying to foster since it was elected in December, says a Government statement.
Moreover, the impression that had been given to the Government by the leadership of the Opposition himself was that it was not always necessary for the entire Government to be present in Parliament during question-time. The meeting last Thursday was only for Minister Bossano’s questions, which meant that there was no need for the Government to take a majority of Ministers.
'CARUANA DOES NOT WANT TO WORK IN AUGUST'
The Opposition took advantage of the situation to vote against the motion to adjourn the House to Thursday 2nd August on the basis of Mr Caruana’s preference that he does not want to work in August.
Although Mr Caruana is wrong because the Parliament did meet in August in 2004, albeit for the Tercentenary Motion, he must understand that he is no longer in Government and that times have changed.
The Parliament, for example, did not meet for questions in January, February, March, May, June and July when he was in office, but it has already met six times for this purpose under the new Government.
Given that a meeting was required in August in order to allow Mr Licudi to answer his questions, then the Opposition should have agreed to this because this is what they are paid by the taxpayer to do. The end result is that the questions tabled for Mr Licudi have now been lost and that they will have to be submitted again if they want the answers.
The Government is now free, in any case, to call a new meeting in August for this purpose if it so determines.
ABSENCES BY CARUANA HIMSELF
The Government considers, in any case, that Mr Caruana is the last person to complain about who is present in meetings of the House and who is not. He has, since the GSD lost the elections, been asbsent on several notable occasions, particularly on Friday afternoons, and including part of the conclusion to the budget debate and the whole of the Committee Stage.
Moreover, the Government has bent over backwards to accommodate Mr Caruana’s personal diary needs quite correctly changing the start of the budget debate and even the date of one Chief Minister’s questions at Mr Caruana’s request.
There is no need to remind anyone that Mr Caruana would never have acted in this generous and accommodating manner had be still been the Chief Minister.
"It is obvious that the Opposition are completely ungrateful and clearly remain spiteful because they lost the election and we won it. It is also clear to the Government that the Opposition cannot be trusted to uphold accepted standards of parliamentary behaviour and the Government will now regrettably have to proceed on this basis in the future," ends the Government statement.
30-07-12
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