Both sides of the House have agreed to discuss the appointment of the new Chief Justice. The discussion is underway.
PM Robert Abela said that Scerri Herrera was the first choice of Alex Borg, a claim Borg did not deny. This after the Justice Minister claimed that PN members wanted to vote for Scerri Herrera appointment to which the PN side strongly denied.

Meanwhile, One News said that pressure is mounting within the PN group for a free vote to be taken since some of the PN MPs agree with Consuelo Scerri Herrera’s appointment. This emerged from a leak to One News by a PN Parliamentary group member, according to Labour’s TV station and news portal.

Earlier today, the President appealed to both sides of the House to take a decision in the best interest of the people, the State, rule of law, the Justice Administration and the Courts of Justice.

PL issues statements

The Labour Party issued a statement following these new developments saying that the Opposition gave in after leaving the country hanging until the very last minute.

The Opposition gave in and was forced to concede to the Government after dragging its feet for weeks on end without giving a reply or state its position on the Government’s nominated candidate for the post of Chief Justice.

In another statement, The Labour Party said that Opposition Leader Alex Borg did not deny that he was supporting the nomination of Dr Consuelo Scerri Herrera as Chief Justice during the discussions with Prime Minister Robert Abela.
The attitude of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament during this evening’s sitting showed that the Leader of the Opposition was not being honest with the parliamentary group of the Nationalist Party.

The position taken tonight by Alex Borg against the nomination of Dr Scerri Herrera shows that it is dictated by extremist forces that still dictate the position taken by the Nationalist Party.

Expect more updates as the discussion unfolds and a vote is expected to be taken.