Updated 7.10pm

An Opposition motion of no confidence in three ministers linked to the Sofia public inquiry was amended by the government on Thursday to remove all references to political responsibility.

The government's 41 MPs voted in favour of the amended motion, effectively defeating the no-confidence motion by altering it. 

Counter-amendments presented by the PN and its 32 MPs were defeated. 

The PN motion originally called for the resignation of ministers Silvio Schembri, Miriam Dalli and Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi. All three are or were politically responsible for entities singled out for criticism by an inquiry into the construction site death of Jean Paul Sofia.  

That inquiry concluded the state had to bear responsibility for regulatory shortcomings which meant the site where Sofia was killed was in a regulatory grey area. 

Aside from calling for the ministers to resign, the PN motion also demanded monthly progress reports on the implementation of the Sofia inquiry's recommendations, which it wants brought into law within six months. 

But an hour into Thursday's parliamentary debate on the motion, Labour whip Naomi Cachia moved an amendment that removed all those points. 

Instead, the updated amendment - which was eventually approved on the strength of the government vote - called for the government to implement the reforms proposed in the Sofia inquiry "in the shortest time possible". 

The updated amendment also "obliges" the government to debate the implementation of the Sofia inquiry within a year of its publication. 

In a political tug-of-war, the Opposition responded by moving an amendment to that amendment 45 minutes later, proposing to restore the motion to its original wording. Those counter-amendments were voted down by government MPs. 

The Corradino site where Jean Paul Sofia lost his life. File photo

Several Opposition MPs dedicated their speaking time to demanding the three ministers' resignation. 

Zrinzo Azzopardi was responsible for planning and the construction sector at the time of the incident. 

Dalli and Schembri were responsible for state agencies INDIS and Malta Enterprise, though both have argued they were not ministers at the time the Corradino land was allocated to developers. Both agencies were found to have committed serious shortcomings in allocating the public site and approving the project in 2019. 

"Ministers take the glory whenever an entity does something new; they should be held accountable when those agencies fail," PN MP Jerome Caruana Cilia said. 

In his speech, Prime Minister Robert Abela described the PN motion as "populist" and "partisan", adding that the government is focused on implementing reform.

Jean Paul Sofia. Photo: Facebook

Opposition leader Bernard Grech, who tabled the original no-confidence motion along with party whip Robert Cutajar, accused the prime minister of trying to mask his failings by citing wrongdoing done in the past by PN administrations.

"What was wrong in the past, remains wrong," Grech said. "But the prime minister must understand that mentioning it does not excuse him from doing wrong now." 

In an impassioned speech, Grech said the government seemed intent on saying one thing and doing another. 

If it truly wanted to implement inquiry recommendations as soon as possible, why was it even opposed to the PN proposal to debate implementation of the reforms every four weeks, he asked. 

“The government is united in its lust for power,” Grech said.