Planning bills on hold as parliament rises for summer recess

The Maltese parliament rose for its summer recess on Monday, and will resume on 15 September.

The House’s final act before its summer break was to approve a bill which amends a number of laws related to tax collection.

Parliament rising for summer recess means government will have to wait until at least September to discuss the controversial planning bills filed last month.

MaltaToday reported Prime Minister Robert Abela wanted to rush planning changes through parliament without committee stage evaluation before summer recess.

Sources close to government told MaltaToday the prime minister wants the amendments to be discussed only in plenary thus avoiding the committee stage.

But public outrage over the proposed amendments led to government backtracking and saying it would be leading a wider consultation.