Opposition files motion of no confidence in Byron Camilleri

Updated at 5:45pm with Speaker’s ruling

An Opposition request for an urgent debate on an Ombudsman report which highlighted degrading, racist and intimidating treatment of inmates under former prison boss Alex Dalli was turned down by the Speaker.

Speaker Anglu Farrugia said the Opposition’s request did not satisfy the criteria for an urgent debate, citing previous rulings in the House on similar requests.

After the ruling was given, Opposition leader Bernard Grech presented a no-confidence vote in Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, under who the degrading and inhuman treatment happened.

The report, published on 31 January 2025, concludes that between July 2018 and December 2021, the prison’s management under former prison boss Alex Dalli engaged in systemic failures that led to violations of fundamental rights.

The Ombudsman found that these failures breached prison administration regulations and, in a shocking revelation, suggested a link between the mismanagement and the number of deaths, including suicides, during this period.

Dalli was suspended in November 2021 after the third prison suicide of the year.

In his request, Grech highlighted that the government, specifically Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, not only defended Dalli’s tenure but later appointed him as Malta’s representative in Libya with an annual salary of €103,000.

“Even after the damning Ombudsman report, Camilleri reaffirmed his full confidence in Dalli,” Grech said.

The Opposition leader insisted this is a matter of urgent public interest and has formally requested a parliamentary adjournment debate to address the issue.

Government Whip Naomi Cachia said the request is being made under Standing Order 13, which dictates the issue which would be debated is definite and urgent. Cachia said the matter was neither, and government would not be agreeing to the debate.

Before Speaker Anglu Farrugia adjourned to deliver a ruling on the Opposition’s request, Grech questioned how “deaths and terror” within the country’s prison system was not urgent for the government.