Speaker finds Jason Azzopardi in breach of privilege over Chris Cardona tweet

The Speaker has asked Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi to apologise to Economy Minister Chris Cardona

PN MP Jason Azzopardi
PN MP Jason Azzopardi

The Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia has ruled that a tweet by Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi was in breach of parliamentary privilege.

On Monday, Economy minister Chris Cardona requested the Speaker’s protection over a tweet in which Azzopardi said the minister had close ties to the criminal underworld.

“This evening you could see how the corrupt and those who are familiar with criminals behave: they don’t allow those who expose their lies and evil speak,” tweeted Azzopardi.

Azzopardi’s claim, Cardona claimed, constituted a “clear prima face breach of parliamentary privilege”.

Replying to the minister, Azzopardi said that the comments reminded him of the saying that “an unsolicited excuse is proof of guilt”, adding that he had not mentioned Cardona by name. “How does he know I was referring to him?"

But Farrugia did not agree with Azzopardi, noting that the tweet had been uploaded just a few minutes after parliamentary adjournment concluded last Wednesday.

“He was indirectly referring to what had happened during adjournment,” Farrugia said.

He said that anyone following parliament would have had no doubt about who Azzopardi was referring to, especially given most of the interruptions during adjournment had come from Cardona.

Azzopardi’s tweet followed a report by the Daphne Project, which claimed that the minister had attended a bachelor party at which Alfred Degiorgio - one of the the men charged with Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder – was present.

Farrugia also pointed out that on the day the report was published, and two days before the tweet in question, Azzopardi had asked whether the government would be reacting to the story.

“The House concludes that the tweet was not a generic one, but was one referring to an identifiable MP,” Farrugia said.

He said that Azzopardi was in breach of the standing order which states that no member of parliament shall use offensive language in relation to, or attribute bad motive, to any other member.

Azzopardi, who was not present in the chamber at the time of the ruling, was asked to apologise to Cardona. In Facebook post uploaded shortly after the Speaker's ruling Azzopardi insisted that freedom of political expression "is not given or taken by Mr Speaker".