Speaker Anglu Farrugia on Wednesday turned down a Nationalist Party motion for an urgent debate about Chris Fearne’s position as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EU Funds, as he faces criminal charges in relation to the hospitals investigation.
The motion was tabled by PN leader Bernard Grech, and sought an urgent parliamentary debate to discuss the lack of a resignation or sacking of Fearne by the government, despite the fact that he faces charges which include fraud and misappropriation.
After Parliament was suspended, the Speaker said that while he “shares the Opposition leader’s concerns” on the matter, he was bound by Parliament’s Standing Orders which dictated that the matter of the resignation of a minister did not fall under the criteria of an urgent debate as it would require a vote at the end.
Grech in response lamented that rules seemed to only apply for the Opposition, and therefore declared that as of that moment the PN would be exercising “parliamentary disobedience.”
Upon being told by the Speaker that he was “out of order”, Grech said that it was the government which was out of order and the Prime Minister who was out of order for attacking the country’s institutions.
Grech had tabled a motion stating that while Fearne has every right to defend himself before the courts, that is not the case for him to remain Deputy Prime Minister.
“This is a matter of public importance because the Maltese and Gozitan people have the right not to have a person who is charged before the country’s courts with serious and serious criminal offenses continue to occupy the role of Minister,” Grech said.
He said that in every democratic country, such circumstances result in the resignation or immediate sacking of the Minister in question from every public post.
Prime Minister Robert Abela responded that the matter of the position of the Deputy Prime Minister is not up to the Opposition and that the motion should be turned down by the Speaker.
He referred to a ruling which the Speaker gave on Monday, which was to similarly reject a PN motion seeking an urgent debate on the charges which had been filed.
Abela said he has full faith in Fearne, who was his right hand man and support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and noted that the fact that he has been charged does not infer guilt and reminded that none of the accused were given the opportunity to be heard.
Abela went on to say that the conclusions of the magisterial inquiry cannot denote guilt in itself and until now mean “nothing.”
He said that when the verbal process is published, if there is backing to the charges of those who stand accused of criminal wrongdoing he would speak otherwise. He added that if Fearne’s name does not come up in the inquiry, he will remain Deputy Prime Minister and enjoy the full force of Abela’s defence.
Abela said that certain elements were working against Fearne from as far back as January, when it was announced that he would be Malta’s nominee for European Commissioner, and he directly questioned PN MP Karol Aquilina as to how he knew that certain accusations were to be made against him.
In response, Grech said that Abela was beating about the bush as someone would do if they were caught out.
Grech went on to say that his statement is proof that he has access to the inquiry and has read it, thus prompting the PN leader to accuse the Prime Minister of lying to Parliament and calling on the Speaker to take action. Furthermore, Grech recalled that former Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia had been forced to resign over a tent.
Grech said that the Prime Minister must understand that in a democratic country there exists the separation of powers and noted that even despite the President’s warning to allow the judiciary to work with serenity; he has proceeded to attack not only the media but also that same judiciary.
Abela replied that just because one pillar of democracy takes a certain action, it doesn’t mean that the executive is bound by it.
In granting his ruling, Farrugia said that paragraph 4 of Article 13 of Parliament’s Standing Orders – the same article cited by Grech to request the urgent debate – stated unequivocally: “No discussion can be brought about in this manner about matters that are prepared for discussion as orders of the day, as a matter of privilege, or as a matter that can only be discussed after a specific motion.”
He went on to say that Grech’s request for Fearne’s resignation requires a specific motion with three days’ notice. Citing previous similar decisions in 2019 and in 1998 when now-President Myriam Spiteri Debono was Speaker, Farrugia rejected the motion and invited Parliament to continue as per the set agenda.
Grech however said that, once again, Parliament was being denied from discussing the current reality of the country. He said the Maltese people are all worried about what is going on and it isn’t enough that the Speaker shares that he too is worried, but the Speaker also has a way to allow discussions to go forward in Parliament.
He said that it is the people’s Parliament and the same people who choose parliamentary representatives choose them to discuss what the country is going through at any given time.
Upon being interrupted by the Speaker and being told that he was “out of order”, Grech said: “We have a Deputy Prime Minister who is out of order, we have a government which is out of order, and a Prime Minister who is out of order.”
Grech said that from that moment the PN will be exercising “parliamentary disobedience” as it finds it unacceptable to collaborate with an “out of order government facing such serious accusations.”
