Speaker to review barriers outside parliament after request by MP

Parliament's new speaker Carmelo Abela has said he will review whether barriers should be removed from outside the building, following a request by PN MP Darren Carabott.

In a social media post on Thursday, Carabott said he had taken the opportunity to bring up the barriers with Abela following his appointment as Speaker. 

The barriers have stood outside parliament since the 2019 protests linked to the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Carabott said the Speaker  had shown willingness to discuss the matter further. 

In reply to a parliamentary question by Carabott, the Speaker said: “I will hold the necessary meetings so that a solution can be found which strikes the required balance, including safeguarding the security of the building, Members of Parliament, employees and all those who visit the Parliament building.”

Carabott has raised the issue several times, including in 2024, when he put parliamentary questions to then Speaker Anġlu Farrugia.

At the time, Farrugia had said he was still exploring alternatives to the barriers.

Two years later, no alternative had been provided, and the barriers remain at the entrance of the capital and are one of the first things someone sees as they enter. 

He said he had previously been told the barriers were needed for security reasons.

The barriers have been in place since political protests in 2019. File photo: Times of Malta

But Carabott argued that the barriers “spoil the entrance to Valletta and send the wrong message.”

He said politicians were often welcomed into people’s homes during house visits without any barriers between them and residents, arguing that parliament should reflect the same sense of openness.

He also questioned the visual impact of the barriers at City Gate, asking: “is this how we are welcoming people at City Gate?”

Carabott said the Parliament building had been designed to be accessible and transparent, but instead had a row of barriers in front of it.

He said this sent the wrong message and went against what the architect had originally intended.

The barriers have been a contested issue since they were placed outside parliament in 2019.

The matter was also raised in 2022, when Farrugia said the crowd-control barriers marked the area where MPs and parliamentary committees meet. He had said they should continue to be used until a more permanent solution was found.

Farrugia had also said that while he appreciated the artistic value of the building, he had a duty to ensure that MPs and the building itself were protected.