An MP has accused the House of Representatives of lacking respect in his regards in the wake of the decision to hold a sitting at the same time as his father’s funeral.
Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo levelled this criticism on Monday when the House paid tribute to his late father, Saviour, who died last month, aged 95.
“When there is a funeral during a sitting, standing orders must bow their head. I felt a huge disrespect as I had to choose between parliament and attending my father’s funeral,” an emotional Mr Vassallo remarked.
On the day of the funeral, Wednesday December 4, Parliament had met in the morning to approve a long list of Budget votes. The Opposition had not attended as part of its boycott against Joseph Muscat’s decision to resign in January, rather than step down straight away.
At the start of the sitting, Dr Muscat had drawn the Speaker’s attention to the fact that the sitting was being held concurrently with the funeral of Mr Vassallo’s father.
Dr Muscat had insisted that even though the Opposition had decided not to attend Parliament, the timing of the sitting was not meant to be disrespectful towards Mr Vassallo. He added that the House would pay tribute to the Opposition MP’s late father in a future sitting.
As a matter of fact, on the very next sitting held on Monday when parliament reconvened following the length Christmas Recess, the House paid tribute to Mr Vassallo.
In a short address, the PN MP expressed his disappointment saying he felt regret and anger. Mr Vassallo had already expressed his feelings on the matter in a Facebook post on the day of the funeral.
“I hope that when we talk about equality we mean it. A funeral of an MP’s family should be a moment of respect,” he said on Monday in Parliament.
Opposition leader Adrian Delia said Mr Vassallo epitomised the traditional Maltese values as he had dedicated his life to his family, his business and had also strong Catholic values which he had passed on to his son.
Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne conveyed condolences on behalf of the government. Speaker Anġlu Farrugia remarked that Mr Vassallo was a man of integrity and strong values.
Speaker ruling sought on Azzopardi’s remarks
Former economy Minister Chris Cardona has requested a ruling from the chair over remarks made by PN MP Jason Azzopardi last month.
Dr Cardona felt aggrieved by comments made on December 5 whereby Dr Azzopardi allegedly called him “liar and corrupt”. He pointed out that these remarks were made outside parliament, where the parliamentary immunity against prosecution against defamation did not apply.
On his part, Dr Azzopardi raised the stakes even higher, challenging Dr Cardona to sue him for libel.