Speaker Anġlu Farrugia still weighing options on contesting next election

Speaker of the House of Representatives Anġlu Farrugia is still weighing his options as to whether or not he should contest the next general election on the Labour Party ticket.

Dr Farrugia was a guest on INDEPTH, interviewed by Pierre Portelli, The Malta Independent’s Content Director.

Asked about his relationship with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Dr Farrugia was extremely coy, cautiously saying: “The problems I had were with Joseph Muscat not with the Labour Party,” leaving the door open to contest the next general election on the Labour Party ticket irrespective of his leader’s opinion on the matter.

Dr Farrugia was Deputy Leaader of the Party when he was asked to step down by Joseph Muscat following comments he made about magistrate Audrey Demicoli. He felt cheated out of the position of Deputy Prime Minister which went to his successor, Louis Grech.

During the programme, the Speaker of the House insisted that he had never colluded with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, or with any other member of government, to appoint his daughter as a magistrate.

The interview covered several issues ranging from when Dr Farrugia was in the Police Force back in the 1980s to his ambition to become Leader of the Labour Party which was thwarted by the events that preceded the 2013 election when he was quickly removed from his post of deputy leader and replaced by current Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech.

Asked to confirm if he believed that his daughter was appointed a magistrate – notwithstanding the fact that, at the time, she was ineligible for the position due to a lack of experience – in order to stop him contesting the next general election, Dr Farrugia denied the claim and said that he is still keeping his options open and as yet has not decided whether he will contest or not.

“My daughter informed me by phone that she had been offered the post,” said Dr Farrugia. On INDEPTH he stressed that he was not involved in the nomination and that there had been “absolutely no collusion with Joseph Muscat on my daughter’s appointment to the bench and no one spoke to me about the nomination before they contacted her.”

He insisted that his daughter was already a successful lawyer and that she embraced high moral values. “Her legal office was doing very well – she didn’t need any push,” said a proud Dr Farrugia.

INDEPTH can be watched on www.independent.com.mt, on FLiving TV and Smash TV and can be heard on Campus FM.