Updated - Government wins confidence vote - 'Chapter has been closed' - PM

The government as expected this evening won a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives, with all 35 government MPs voting in favour and all opposition MPs voting against. The vote was requested by the prime minister after the Minister of Home Affairs, Carm Mifsud Bonnici, was forced to resign last week after an Opposition no confidence motion backed by Nationalist MP Franco Debono. The debate was opened and closed by the prime minister. Other government speakers were ministers Tonio Borg and Mario de Marco and MPs Francis Zammit Dimech and Dr Debono. Dr Debono defended his actions on Wednesday and said that once responsibility had been borne for mistakes made in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Justice, he was prepared to help the prime minister bring about constitutional and institutional reforms. Dr Mifsud Bonnici did not take part in the debate. He arrived close to the end of the debate and set at the edge of the back bench, close to the Strangers' Gallery. He was joined by his former parliamentary assistant Beppe Fenech Adami. In a brief statement after the vote Dr Gonzi said that the governemnt had been given the vote of confidence he had requested, a vote which was...