In another twist to the ongoing process of the nomination for Chief Justice, the Opposition in Parliament requested a vote over the government-motion presented yesterday nominating Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera for Chief Justice. The motion was shot down by the Speaker yesterday, but the Opposition requested a vote to debate the motion. The motion was not approved.
During the debate, the Prime Minister launched a tirade of accusations against the Opposition Leader while the Opposition Leader Alex Borg did not mention any compromise candidate in his speech.
Previously today, press reports stated the Opposition nominated Judge Edwina Grima for the post of Chief Justice. In Parliament, Opposition Leader Alex Borg denied that the name mentioned by the Prime Minister was proposed by the Nationalist Party. The Prime Minister said that the name proposed by the Opposition is connected to Jason Azzopardi: this is very unclear because Judge Edwina Grima was never accused of having a political bias.
The accusations and retorts by the Prime Minister have only muddled the debate over the Chief Justice even further, making it even more unclear who the compromise candidate may be. The Prime Minister tried to impose a fait accompli with his nomination of Judge Consuela Scerri Herrera and expected an immediate approval from the Opposition.
The President of the Republic, Myriam Spiteri Debono released a very brief statement urging both political parties to come to a compromise agreement.
You can watch the parliamentary session in full here.
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