Michael Frendo’s decision on a re-vote on the PL’s motion has set the scene for a hostile turn of events in Maltese politics
Matthew Vella and
Karl Stagno-Navarra Speaker of the House Michael Frendo has stepped into a minefield in just under two days in office, after he failed to consult his Clerk’s notes that confirmed noting irregular with Labour MP Justyne Caruana’s vote.
Frendo suspended last Thursday’s sitting on the Opposition’s motion against the Delimara power station extension, before ordering a re-vote.
Frendo suspended the sitting after deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg claimed Caruana had voted against the Opposition’s motion.
The allegation surfaced after parliamentary secretary Mario Galea inadvertently voted with the Opposition, allowing the motion to be carried.
But Frendo instead decided to take on Borg’s point of order, and proceeded to listen to the voting’s recording, later emerging to say the MPs were inaudible because the microphones were switched off.
Contacted yesterday, Frendo said he did not check the Clerk of the House’s own notes which, by the Speaker’s own admission, found Caruana’s vote was noted down as having voted with Labour.
On the other hand, Galea was noted as having voted with the opposition.
“I only consulted the recordings and not the notes,” Frendo told MaltaToday yesterday.
Pressed on why he didn’t read out the results of the votes, Frendo stuck by his decision: “No, I decided to listen to Tonio Borg after an assistant clerk drew my attention that he heard Caruana vote against.”
Asked if this went against Standing Orders, Frendo said: “It’s subject to interpretation… I believe I took a decision that was the right thing for democracy, and my conscience is clear.”
An ‘assailable’ system Frendo’s decision will foment more controversy tomorrow when the House must approve the minutes of Thursday’s sitting.
Labour is arguing that Frendo should have stood by the Clerk’s notes when it registered Galea’s vote. When in 1997, Nationalist MP Frans Agius mistakenly voted with the Labour government on a procedural motion on the Budget, the opposition’s protestations to reverse Agius’s vote proved fruitless, and they had to stand by Speaker Miriam Spiteri Debono’s ruling. The same mistake took place soon after by Labour MP Edwin Grech, and again his ‘mistaken’ vote stood.
By the same precedent, Labour argue, Mario Galea’s ‘aye’ ought to stand.
This is where Tonio Borg’s ruse comes in. Last Thursday, the Opposition asked that each MP read out their vote aloud. The Clerk reads out their names in alphabetical order, but instead of jotting down each vote, she only notes MPs who vote against their side, abstain, or are not present.
Frendo admitted yesterday that this system was “assailable” and that he would take immediate steps to have each MP declare their vote in the microphone, and have it registered.
During voting, the Clerk reads out the MPs’ names, assuming that all MPs toe the party line, only noting anomalous votes.
In the audio recording of Thursday’s sitting, Justyne Caruana’s ‘yes’ can be faintly heard – she’s seated at arm’s length from the Clerk. But the Clerk proceeds with the roll-call and there is no reaction from any side of the House, not even Tonio Borg. This in itself suggests nothing untoward at this point.
The Clerk reads out the names of 21 other MPs before Mario Galea makes his momentous blunder. At this point, Labour MP Carmelo Abela – who this week resigned as deputy Speaker – claims the Clerk turned towards the Speaker, apparently flustered at Galea’s mistake.
This is a crucial point since the Clerk was expected to proceed with the roll-call after ticking Mario Galea’s name as having voted for the Labour motion. Instead she breaks her machine-gun rap and stops for three seconds, as the realisation of Galea’s blunder sinks in and the Labour side erupts.
The Speaker refuses to give him the word, and the Clerk of the House is heard saying, “The vote should be taken again…” ostensibly to the Speaker.
Frendo comes back on: “We’ll continue with the votes…” and the Clerk resumes with Austin Gatt. Soon after she remarks that she is having difficulties hearing the votes (which are being shouted out by the MPs), but keeps calling out the MPs’ names, and voting ends.
Instead of Frendo reading out the result, which now includes Mario Galea’s vote for the motion, he allows Tonio Borg to raise a point of order in which he claims Justyne Caruana voted against the Labour motion. It is here that matters deteriorate further, when Frendo decides to listen to the sessino’s recording without first checking whether the Clerk had noted down Caruana’s vote, or declaring the result; and then he decides to go for a re-vote.
Labour’s new battlelines Joseph Muscat’s strategy to withdraw Labour from the Select Committee on the strengthening of democracy and his Deputy Speaker means the Opposition leader is in fighting mode.
It is bound to be a tough political game to negotiate. Muscat is keen to see parliamentary procedure gets respected. This is the kind of unforgivable procedure which all MPs have to abide by. In the eyes of the general public, Mario Galea’s blunder may just be human error, and Muscat’s walkout an ‘overreaction’ – this is the kind of fodder the Nationalist spin machine loves and will exploit. A sure indicator of this is the how the state TV’s flagship shows will woo public opinion on the matter. Xarabank’s Peppi Azzopardi’s plank was that Labour “over-reacted to a genuine mistake” – tomorrow his business partner Lou Bondì will discuss the motion on Bondiplus.
But Labour is also indicating a deep-seated frustration with the conduct of parliamentary business. Frendo’s ruling is highly debatable, and the Speaker offers no reassurance as to why he did not consult his own clerk’s notes before taking a decision on the re-vote.
Labour will now focus its efforts on destabilising Gonzi’s one-seat majority, turning its attention to those PN backbenchers who had criticised the Delimara project but chose to toe the government’s line – Franco Debono, Ninu Zammit, Jesmond Mugliett, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, and Robert Arrigo.
Gonzi today will be in Sliema’s Fortina Hotel in a meeting for constituents, where he is expected to lash out at Labour’s reaction on Frendo’s ruling.
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