A rowdy parliamentary sitting was briefly suspended on Tuesday as Opposition MPs protested that Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia was in the building but had not entered the chamber to answer their questions about a shocking assault by Transport Malta officials on a man in Marsa.
The minister had been due in the House to answer a question - about a zebra crossing in Attard - and the Opposition used that to ask a number of supplementary questions about the video of the attack.
The House was told by the Labour whip Andy Ellul and by Culture Minister Owen Bonnici that Farrugia was absent from the House on official business.
A Times of Malta reporter was able to ask Farrugia questions outside the parliament building at 4pm.
Several PN MPs asked a series of questions about a video which showed two Transport Malta officials beating up a man as he lay on the ground in Marsa.
Bonnici rose to reply to the questions on behalf of the transport minister.
He said that the two Transport Malta officials allegedly involved in the incident had been suspended and the case was being investigated.
The incident, he said, was being condemned without any reservations.
The shadow minister for transport, Adrian Delia, asked who would assume political responsibility and who is leading the internal investigation.
Delia said it was disrespectful that the minister of transport was not in the House to reply to questions as was his duty.
He insisted that political responsibility needed to be shouldered because the people involved in this incident were public officers whose duty was to ensure that the roads were safe, not to create danger themselves.
Bonnici said he did not have that information but criticised the opposition for trying to use every incident for political means.
"Have we reached a stage where the opposition turns everything into a political football?" he asked.
Darren Carabott (PN) asked if the employees had been suspended on pay. He also asked whether the minister saw discrimination with the way three government officials in Gozo were not suspended despite having been accused of involuntary homicide. The case involved a worker who died when a room he was working in collapsed.
The minister replied that there was no discrimination since the Gozo issue was involuntary. There was another similar case some years ago where a teacher who ran over a boy with her car had similarly not been suspended.
Bonnici said the opposition was showing it had no ideas and was clutching at every opportunity for political ends.
Karol Aquilina (PN) asked when the officials were engaged and how.
Bonnici said he had no information but their engagement was made in a regular manner.
Delia said Transport Malta had a string of scandals and asked at what stage would political responsibility be shouldered.
At this point, Opposition MPs protested that the Transport Minister was in the building but had not come into the chamber to answer questions.
Ryan Callus said he and Nationalist MP Mario de Marco had been in the lift with the minister. They entered the chamber and the minister disappeared.
Amid further protests, Delia demanded an explanation into why the chairperson had been "lied to" when it was told that the minister could not attend because of other official business.
The sitting was briefly interrupted amid uproar.
When the sitting resumed, the Opposition whip then demanded a ruling from the speaker. A ruling will be given in another sitting.