Malta’s Opposition Leader is not excluding boycotting Parliament over the Speaker’s “inaction” over a Labour MP was found to have breached the ethical code.

During an interview on radio station 103 Malta’s Heart today, Bernard Grech told host Andrew Azzopardi that while he believed there were other ways for the Opposition to send a clear message over Anglu Farrugia’s response to ethical questions raised over MP Rosianne Cutajar, he wasn’t excluding anything – including a boycott.

Farrugia has been criticised for failing to act in light of Cutajar being found in breach of ethics in relation to a Mdina property deal involving murder suspect Yorgen Fenech. Following this confirmed breach by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler, Farrugia sent Cutajar a letter of caution, which critics argue isn’t enough.

Grech criticised Farrugia of acting as gatekeeper for the government.

“Look at what happened in Parliament this week. The Speaker should be there to defend the country and the constitution, not the government,” Grech said.

And it wasn’t only him; Matthew Caruana Galizia, son of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has called for Farrugia’s resignation, describing his verdict on Cutajar as “pathetic”.

This wouldn’t be the first time the Opposition boycotted Parliament over ethical standards. Between 1981 and 1983, the Opposition, led by former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, repeatedly boycotted Parliament as political violence rose across the island.