PN to convene its General Council, reiterates backing for Gonzi and calls on Debono to resign

The executive of the Nationalist Party this evening confirmed its confidence in Lawrence Gonzi as prime minister and party leader and announced it would convene a meeting of its National Council to discuss the current political crisis.

It also declared - as the PN parliamentary group did yesterday - that recent declarations by MP Franco Debono were unacceptable and caused instability.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said after the two-hour meeting that the only honourable option for Franco Debono was to resign and return his parliamentary seat to the people who had elected him.

It was ironic, he said, that on the day when the European Commission had given a certificate to Malta acknowledging that it was on the right path to deficit reduction, the party had to be discussing a serious problem created by one of its members because he did not agree with the decisions taken in the Cabinet reshuffle. An MP had no option but to resign when he stopped agreeing with the leader of the party on whose ticket he was elected, Dr Gonzi said.

The prime minister said this was not a situation which he, or the Nationalist Party, had created and if one really believed in the rules of democracy, one had to respect the will of the electorate.

The prime minister said he understood that the Leader of the Opposition would try to take advantage of the situation, but he could not understand how he could put his hunger for power before the national interest, especially in such trying times.

Dr Gonzi said the PN would convene its General Council by January 29 to further discuss the situation.

Dr Gonzi did not reply when he was asked whether a general election was inevitable if Dr Debono did not step down.

The executive in a statement said the Nationalist Party was built on dialogue, but its decisions were binding on its members without distinction. It said that Dr Debono's declarations were causing instability, which the Leader of the Opposition was taking advantage of.

Dr Debono declared last Friday that he will no longer support the government in parliament - robbing the government of its one-seat majority. He also called for Dr Gonzi to recognise the national interest and the common good.

Today's meeting started at about 7 p.m., a few hours after Opposition leader Joseph Muscat signalled that he will move a no-confidence motion in the government unless the prime minister found an honourable way to restore stability in the country.

The PN parliamentary group yesterday called on Dr Debono to either change his position on resign from the House. Dr Debono rejected the calls.

MPs did not comment as they entered PN headquarters, except Beppe Fenech Adami who said the time is not right for the country to face a general election.