Absent MP vows loyalty to party

Nationalist backbencher Franco Debono broke his three-day silence yesterday, saying he would never do anything to topple the government.

Dr Debono admitted to The Times that his absence from Parliament during votes on Monday - which resulted in an unprecedented tie for the PN - had embarrassed the government but he insisted they were not votes that could have toppled it.

The government can only be toppled by a vote of no-confidence or a financial vote.

Asked whether, because of that incident, he had been pressured by the PN to resign, Dr Debono replied in the negative.

Replying to another question on Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's visit to his house on Wednesday evening, Dr Debono said he had a cold and could not visit Dr Gonzi himself. Details of this meeting remain under wraps.

The episode has shaken the Nationalist Party, reminding it of the potential vulnerability of its single-seat majority, the same margin by which the Labour government had been toppled in 1998 when former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff voted against his party in a vote of confidence.

On Monday, Dr Debono went missing when two votes were taken on amendments to a motion to set up a select committee to prepare a draft law on assisted procreation. One amendment was proposed by the opposition, calling on the Speaker to chair the committee instead of a Nationalist MP.

His absence created a tie in both votes - 32 in favour and 32 against.

Eventually, the amendments fell through with the Speaker's casting vote and it was only when Dr Debono returned to Parliament and voted that the original motion, and a second one creating another select committee on the codification of laws, which he is to chair, were approved.

When asked why he was absent at that moment, Dr Debono answered cryptically that he could have taken the action "on a point of principle", but he would not elaborate.

Dr Debono explained that he had left Parliament two hours before the vote was taken. He said he had prepared a speech to deliver in Parliament but did not read it out.

His actions, he insisted, were not some "ego trip", since a negative vote in Parliament would have meant his losing the chairmanship of the parliamentary committee on the codification of laws, which was the other motion under discussion that evening.

However, his temporary absence gave rise to several rumours because Dr Debono had, in the past, been described as a "disgruntled" backbencher.

Although he had already explained he was not disgruntled but simply passing on the message of his constituents, the young MP yesterday insisted he would never do anything to topple the government.

There was a rumour making the rounds that the Speaker of the House, Louis Galea, his main rival in his district, could find his way back into the Cabinet after Social Solidarity Minister John Dalli's departure to become a European Commissioner. Dr Debono's behaviour has been linked with this possibility.

For the first time, Dr Debono yesterday vehemently denied his parliamentary absence was in any way linked to Dr Galea, whom he ousted to gain a seat in Parliament.

"Three weeks ago, when it was announced that John Dalli was to be proposed as Malta's EU Commissioner, I went to Dr Galea's private chambers in Parliament and congratulated him in the eventuality of returning as an MP if he decided to contest the casual election. It is an absolute invention that this has anything to do with Dr Galea. I respect him and wish him well," he said.

Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry denied a report carried in yesterday's l-orizzont which claimed Dr Debono, after he left the House on Monday, had been located through his mobile signal by the Secret Service.

"The secret service was not called in to locate or escort Dr Debono back to Parliament on Monday, as has been alleged," the ministry said.