Three questions in four years: PN health spokesperson Spiteri least active MP

The Nationalist Party’s health spokesperson Stephen Spiteri asked just three parliamentary questions over four years despite shadowing one of the government’s busiest ministries, making him the least active opposition MP in parliament when it came to scrutinising ministers.

An analysis of parliament’s official records by Times of Malta found Spiteri, the only doctor in the PN parliamentary group, filed the three oral questions on the same day, January 22, 2024.

These were addressed to the health minister, Jo Etienne Abela, and concerned out-of-stock cancer medicines, drug overdose admissions at Mater Dei and patients at Mount Carmel Hospital.

That was the extent of Spiteri’s parliamentary questioning during the 14th legislature, which ran from May 2022 until parliament was dissolved in April 2026.

Spiteri, who was elected from two districts in the recent general election, was reappointed to shadow the health ministry portfolio last month.

Parliamentary questions are one of the few tools available to opposition MPs to compel ministers to account for their actions.

Labour backbencher MP Randolph de Battista filed just two parliamentary questions before resigning from parliament in January 2025. Ramona Attard, who was co-opted to replace de Battista, filed four parliamentary questions.

At the other end of the scale was Nationalist MP Jerome Caruana Cilia, who tabled  2,747 questions during the 14th legislature – more than any of parliament’s 79 MPs.

He was followed by Nationalist MPs Graziella Galea (2,490), Ivan Bartolo (2,449), Chris Said (2,360), Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici (2,320) and Graziella Attard Previ (2,019).

The Spiteri goose chase

Over the past week, Times of Malta repeatedly sought to ask Spiteri why he made so little use of parliamentary questions.

The attempts included eight unanswered phone calls, two text messages and an e-mail to his parliamentary address, which bounced back because his inbox was full.

A PN communications spokesperson confirmed Spiteri had been informed that Times of Malta was seeking a comment, saying: “I told him to revert.”

Eventually, after trying three times to doorstep him in person outside parliament, Spiteri was finally spotted.

When approached, he said he was busy and walked away without commenting. 

Spiteri’s lack of PQs also coincides with a poor track record of physical attendance in parliament.

According to an analysis of parliamentary minutes published by the Malta Independent on Sunday last month, he recorded the highest number of unjustified absences of any MP during the 14th legislature.

He was listed as absent without justification 109 times, accounting for nearly a quarter of all 459 sittings.

When factoring in an additional 87 excused absences, the PN health shadow missed a total of 196 sittings throughout the term.

The PQs indicate that when Adrian Delia was assigned the health portfolio by then-Opposition leader Bernard Grech during a reshuffle in January 2024, he filed over 125 health-related PQs. He held the role until he was shifted to the finance portfolio in September 2025.

While Delia was shadow health minister, Spiteri became the party’s spokesperson for social policy.

Delia’s questions covered the vitals/Steward hospitals concessions, Mount Carmel’s modernisation, primary healthcare, electronic health records, medicine shortages, Mater Dei staffing, healthcare worker conditions and mental health services.

Last month, Times of Malta revealed that Opposition Leader Alex Borg’s shadow cabinet plans were disrupted after attempts to split the healthcare portfolio between Delia and Spiteri collapsed following discussions. 

Under Malta’s parliamentary procedure, MPs may table up to six questions for oral answer in a single sitting, granted they give at least three days’ notice, while questions for written replies are not subject to this three-day rule.

However, questions have been raised about the effectiveness of the system, with replies often criticised as dodging the issues raised.

Times of Malta recently revealed that more than 1,200 parliamentary questions remained unanswered in the last legislature, with the transport ministry having the highest number of unanswered questions.

In March, Eve Borg Bonello raised a point of order after 86 of her questions on government advertising spending went unanswered for six weeks.