Fracas in parliament: Debono Grech threatens to violently assault Marlene Farrugia

A row broke out in parliament during a committee meeting at around 8pm yesterday, when government MP Joe Debono Grech – a fossil from another era teleported into the present – thought that Marlene Farrugia, who resigned the Labour whip a couple of days ago, had called him “pulcinell u korrott”.

He began screaming and shouting, some of his colleagues joined in, Marlene Farrugia denied calling him “korrott” and the matter escalated into a fracas on the government benches, with members of the Opposition shown on Parliament TV looking on in stunned silence.

The television cameras did not focus on the battle but firmly away from it, concentrating instead on Mark Abela/Luciano Busuttil, who was chairing the committee meeting in the absence of Censu Galea. Abela/Busuttil was clearly enjoying himself despite the serious nature of the row. The cameras, focused on his face, showed him smirking with amusement.

The Labour whip, Godfrey Farrugia – with whom Marlene Farrugia lives – rushed to her defence, shouting at Joe Debono Grech. Debono Grech kept yelling and screeching. Marlene Farrugia continued to give him what-for. Godfrey Farrugia asked Marlene Farrugia to stop. You could hear none of this on Parliament TV – just Mark Abela pretending to ask them to stop while smirking and the sound of a battle royal in the background.

The Speaker was not present. Because this was a committee meeting, the person in control (or rather, not in control) was the committee’s deputy chair, Luciano Busuttil. The committee meeting then ran out of time during the ruckus, and the Speaker returned.

Joe Debono Grech – archive image