A member of Parliament had a right to press for clarification if he felt information given in the House was incorrect, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia ruled yesterday.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil asked for a ruling after information was given in Parliament about the consultancies awarded by the Malta-EU Information Centre, which he used to head.

He insisted the information was related to consultancies by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, adding it was a frame-up orchestrated by the government. The Speaker noted that Dr Busuttil’s request for a ruling was not made at the first opportunity, as was normal procedure.

It was a frame-up orchestrated by the government

Citing Erskine May and other sources, Dr Farrugia said the information tabled could not be verified by his office and the remedies available would be for Dr Busuttil to put further questions on the matter or else table a document with the correct information.

In another ruling, Dr Farrugia said that two Bills having similar or identical aims could be presented in Parliament. This was because while a Bill was being debated, the final text would not have been published and, therefore, there would be no issue of conflict with another draft law even if they dealt with the similar topics.

Opposition Whip David Agius had argued that draft legislation on animal cruelty was identical to a Private Member’s Bill presented earlier by the Opposition.