Malta’s Parliament-An Official History is the title of a new publication from Godfrey Pirotta, Professor of Government and Policy Studies and Head of the Department of Public Policy. Published by the Office of Mr Speaker and with the collaboration of the DOI, the book traces the historical and political development of Malta’s House of Representatives. Divided into three sections the book highlights the emergence and workings of this institution and more importantly provides the reader with an opportunity to see first hand the contribution made by this governing institution towards Malta’s socio-economic and political development. The events which helped shape Malta are explored through the debates of the House and the author shows how on several occasions it was in Parliament that the most important decisions were taken and many a crisis resolved. For this reason this study makes an important contribution to our understanding of decisions taken and political developments generally. Lavishly illustrated the book provides the first detailed study of this important governing institution and covers the period 1800-2003.

This is Prof. Pirotta’s third publication. The earlier two were The Maltese Public Service 1800-1940: The Administrative Politics of a Micro-state (1996) and Guardian of the Public Purse: A History of State Audit in Malta 1800-2000 (2001) with Dr Edward Warrington. His study of the Maltese Public Service received international praise and has established itself as a textbook for the study of Maltese history in a number of upper schools and in studies of the colonial period in universities in Britain and Australia. Prof. Pirotta has now established himself as the leading chronicler of Malta’s governing institutions in addition to his many published papers on Maltese public policy and public administration in international academic journals.