Published: 12:50 AM, 26 September 2026
Anlu Farrugia receives Commonwealth lifetime achievement award
Former Speaker Anlu Farrugia has received the Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first Maltese politician to receive the honour.
Farrugia was presented with the award during the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, in recognition of his contribution to parliamentary democracy, good governance and public service.
Accepting the award, Farrugia said he received the honour with "profound gratitude" and a "deep sense of responsibility", telling delegates that public service should not end when a politician leaves office.
"I no longer hold the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta. But I have never believed that one's responsibility begins with an appointment or ends when one leaves office," he said.
"The office is temporary. The values which justify that office cannot be temporary."
Farrugia, who stepped down as Speaker earlier this year after 13 years in the role, used his acceptance speech to reflect on democracy, corruption, peace and the responsibilities of those who hold public office.
He said democracy, human rights, the rule of law, good governance, equality, respect and tolerance were not abstract principles but standards against which public life should be judged.
'What is corrupt must be confronted'
Farrugia struck a strong anti-corruption note in his speech, saying political leaders should distinguish between institutions and practices worth preserving and those requiring change. "What is right must remain right. What works must be strengthened. What is unjust must be corrected. And what is corrupt must be confronted," he said.
He warned that the consequences of corruption extended beyond corrupt acts themselves, contributing to inequality, lost opportunities and poverty.
"Tolerated injustice becomes resentment. Exploited resentment becomes division. Division can become hatred. And hatred, left unchecked, can become violence and war," he said.
Farrugia also recalled telling an event marking the 30th anniversary of Malta's Ombudsman that "unchecked power... is the enemy of good governance", arguing that institutions depended on the conduct of the people entrusted with them.
Almost three decades of Commonwealth parliamentary involvement
Farrugia served as Speaker between April 2013 and April 2026 and was an MP before that.
His involvement with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association stretches back considerably further.
In his speech, Farrugia recalled attending the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Mauritius in 1997 and returning to Cape Town in 2005 for a Commonwealth parliamentary seminar, where he chaired a session on the relationship between parliament and the people.
He was later elected the first chair of the CPA's Small Branches network, representing smaller legislatures across the Commonwealth.
Internationally, he also served as president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union's Committee to Promote Respect for International Humanitarian Law.
Farrugia told the Cape Town gathering that his career had included difficult periods, saying there had been moments when he "felt alone" while pushing for change.
"Change is rarely popular when it begins. Results do not always come when we want them; sometimes they come much later," he said.
'Office passes. Responsibility remains'
His acceptance speech in Cape Town repeatedly returned to the distinction between holding office and continuing to have responsibilities in public life.
He said the ultimate measure of public service was not how long somebody held office or the titles they carried, but "what we defended when it was difficult, what we changed when change was necessary, and whether we left our institutions stronger, fairer and more worthy of the people they serve".
"Office passes. Responsibility remains," he said.
"Public service does not end when office ends. Wherever truth must be defended, injustice confronted, peace pursued and human dignity protected, there remains work to be done."
