Speaker of the House Anġlu Farrugia has called for parliament to adopt a mechanism that would allow MPs to discuss Ombudsman reports and not ignore them. 

Farrugia was giving a speech during the Sette Giugno ceremony in St George’s Square Valletta, where the lives of those killed during an uprising against colonial rule were commemorated. 

After outlining how the historic event eventually led to the formation of Malta’s first parliament, Farrugia expanded on a number of issues he felt that if introduced could help parliament run more smoothly. 

He recommended that parliament work to adopt a mechanism that would be able to see the discussion of reports and opinions forwarded by the Ombudsman, either in a parliamentary sitting or committee. 

He said that while he makes sure to always table these documents in the House and make them available to MPs, he felt that criticism made by the Ombudsman that there is never action or discussion about these is “justified”.

Farrugia also said that he believes that the guidelines on advertising created by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life should become part of the code of ethics for ministers and parliamentary secretaries. 

This saga dates back to 2021, when the previous standards czar George Hyzler found former minister Carmelo Abela guilty of an ethics breach when he spent public funds on an advertisement that was intended only to boost his image.

However, the Standards Committee couldn’t agree on sanctioning Abela, with government members of the committee voting against the motion. At the time Farrugia, who sat on the committee as Speaker and abstained from the vote, said that the ministerial code of ethics lacked clarity on this issue. 

That same year, Hyzler drew up a set of guidelines regulating government advertising, but these have yet to be enshrined in law - which would make them enforceable. 

In the interim, breaches of these guidelines have continued and while the enforceability of the guidelines remains in limbo, those who commit them remain unsanctioned. 

On Friday Farrugia said this has created a lacuna where, if a minister were to be sanctioned based on these guidelines, it would breach their rights as they are not legally enforceable. “Therefore I agree with the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life that as soon as possible the guidelines on advertising issued by his Office should be included in the law by way of a vote in Parliament in order to eliminate any legal anomalies,” he said. 

Farrugia also suggested that speaking time in parliament be slashed to not more than 15 to 20 minutes and spoke about introducing a “citizen’s right of reply” - a tool through which people who feel aggrieved by speech that is covered by parliamentary privilege are given the opportunity to rebut.