Resign, MPs tell Franco Debono

MP Franco Debono should resign from Parliament, his Nationalist parliamentary colleagues declared last night after a two-hour meeting.

No one has the right to threaten the country’s stability

During the emergency meeting, which the party’s executive committee will follow up today with one of their own, the PN parliamentary group also declared its confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister and PN leader Lawrence Gonzi.

The meeting was held after numerous statements were made by an infuriated Dr Debono calling on the Prime Minister to resign or to hold a snap election, after last week’s Cabinet reshuffle failed to appease him. Dr Debono did not attend last night’s meeting and instead appeared concurrently on TVM programme Bondiplus.

Though no one gave comments after the meeting, PN spokesman Frank Psaila issued a press statement signed by parliamentary whip David Agius.It said that Dr Debono’s recent actions were seriously prejudicing the country’s stability.

“No one has the right or any reason to threaten the stability of the government and the country, more so in the present international circumstances. No one has the right to betray the wishes and intentions of his constituents. In such a case the only honourable path is to resign from Parliament.”

The group expressed their “full support” and promised their “full loyalty” in the present circumstances.

“The parliamentary group deems the behaviour of Dr Debono to be a serious failure of loyalty and correctness towards the leadership and structures of the Nationalist Party as well as his colleagues, the members of the party and the constituency who elected him.

“Although the group recognises the role of each MP to put forward any opinion or idea for internal dialogue in the party, this should never prejudice the collegiality in the party’s decisions.”

Sources who attended the meeting said it was a calm one and there was widespread agreement that, unless Dr Debono had an extra­ordinary change of heart, an election would be inevitable.

Party should not be the one to call the election

They agreed, however, that the party should not be the one to be seen to call the election and should instead wait to see how things panned out in Parliament.

There was also some discussion about the state of mind of Dr Debono and an appeal by the Prime Minister for him to be treated as a human being and not to be attacked viciously on a personal level.

Before the meeting, everyone was tight-lipped, except Transport Minister Austin Gatt who said outright that Dr Debono should resign, and MP Francis Zammit Dimech, who said Dr Gonzi should not repeat the mistakes made by former Prime Minister Alfred Sant.

Dr Gonzi last Sunday rallied his supporters at a meeting in Marsaxlokk, quelling any talk of a leadership race. He also said he would not make the same mistakes as Dr Sant, who called an election after being challenged in Parliament by ex-leader Dom Mintoff.

Many are predicting an election will be called soon after Parliament reconvenes next Wednesday. The Opposition has not ruled out tabling a vote of no confidence in the government.

There are also a number of pending money Bills which could count as votes of no confidence if they did not pass, on which Dr Debono said yesterday he would not support the government.

However, questioned repeatedly on Bondiplus last night, he refused to make a clear declaration that he wants to bring down the government.

Dr Debono confirmed that he would not stand for re-election so long as Dr Gonzi was leader but said he did not know what would happen if he were not there.

He ruled out standing as an independent.

He admitted that he never told the Prime Minister to resign before his declaration on Friday afternoon following the Cabinet reshuffle but insisted his views had been made clear to him for months, particularly his disagreement with the policies of Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

Today’s PN executive meeting, which will bring together 80 top officials of the party, is expected to discuss the possibility of an election. It might also be decided to call an urgent party general council to continue rallying public support for Dr Gonzi.