What happened on... July 7

10 years ago - The Times Monday, July 7, 2008 MLP sidelines pairing issue The Labour Parliamentary Group has decided that discussion on parliamentary procedures is not as important as having discussions on other issues required to strengthen democracy in the country, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday. As a result of this decision, Dr Muscat said, he will be writing to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi proposing to start talks on these other issues before tackling the procedures which need to be adopted by Parliament, particularly those related to pairing. The Labour Party is prepared to open these talks now and conclude them by September. In May, the new Nationalist government, enjoying a mere one-seat majority, had proposed linking a pairing agreement with the appointment of an opposition MP as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. Without a pairing agreement – under which opposition MPs paired to government MPs do not vote when the latter are away on official business – Parliament’s work could be greatly hindered. However, the Opposition had rejected the proposal and the Speaker’s post is now occupied by former education minister Louis Galea. Labour’s current...