'Robert Abela threw my suggestions out the window' - Bernard Grech

Opposition Leader Bernard Grech slammed Prime Minister Robert Abela for refusing to reach a genuine compromise in negotiations for the appointment of the new standards commissioner.

Grech was addressing parliament on Wednesday evening in a last effort to block the government's anti-deadlock mechanism before MPs took their vote on the second reading of the bill. The result of that vote was 39 for, 33 against.

This will now go through committee stage, when the technical details are debated and voted upon, before the final third reading stage. The approved bill will become law once it is then signed by the President.

"Robert Abela is as nice as much as you want him to be, as long as you agree with him," Grech told MPs gathered in parliament.

"But when you don't agree with him, he will do whatever is necessary to make sure that everything goes the way he wants it to."

Grech said that throughout the weeks of negotiations, he strove to find common ground with the prime minister, but said Abela had his mind set on appointing his own choice and was unwavering.

"There was no good faith, neither a genuine effort to reach a compromise on a person who would enjoy the trust of all of us,"...