Updated - "We do not cast doubts on the Auditor General's reports, and we must learn from them" - Deborah Schembri

Labour MP Deborah Schembri has been sworn in as parliamentary secretary for Planning and Simplification, succeeding Michael Falzon who resigned yesterday.

The ceremony was held before President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca at the palace in Valletta.

A lawyer by profession, Dr Schembri, 39, rose to prominence when she became one of the leaders of the successful referendum campaign for the introduction of divorce in 2011.

She subsequently contested the March 2013 general election and was elected. She was unsuccessful in the elections to the European Parliament.

In the Maltese parliament she chaired the Social Affairs Committee. 

Those present for this evening's swearing in ceremony included the Prime Minister and the Attorney General.

In comments after the ceremony the prime minister said the major challenging facing the new parliamentary secretary was the Mepa demerger and the transition of the Lands Department (the Government Property Division) into a new Authority.

He said no major transactions would be carried out by the department until the authority is set up. The new authority would be set up on the lines of Mepa, with representatives of the opposition and civil society on...