The country is going to have to wait till next week to find out whether renegade Nationalist MP Franco Debono will bring down the government or change his mind.
Government refuses to agree to any timeframes
A motion of no confidence, tabled by the Opposition last week, will start being discussed on Monday evening and will carry on without a time limit.
The Opposition had wanted to kick off the discussion on Thursday morning and close it by noon.
But during a stormy House Business Committee meeting – which followed up a first one held last Friday – the government negotiated to effectively buy itself some more time.
After a two-hour meeting, it emerged with at least three extra days in which to try and change Dr Debono’s mind.
A well-prepared Leader of the House, Carm Mifsud Bonnici, began the meeting by pointing out that the Opposition had tabled two motions: a motion of no confidence in the government and a procedural motion to limit the debate to less than three hours.
Calling the Opposition “arrogant” and hungry for power, Dr Mifsud Bonnici agreed to begin discussing the procedural motion on Thursday, which would have meant a postponement of the discussion on the no-confidence motion.
Deputy Opposition leader Anġlu Farrugia immediately softened the Opposition’s tone on the procedural motion and said that, so long as the no-confidence motion was discussed this week, the procedural motion was irrelevant.
“Tell us how much time you need. We don’t want to limit the debate, we just want to bring an end to the instability as soon as possible,” he said, adding that even the Prime Minister had indicated he wanted the matter settled this week. However, Dr Mifsud Bonnici insisted that Parliament should first address the procedural “guillotine” motion.
After some heated debate, Labour whip Joe Mizzi agreed to withdraw the procedural motion on the understanding that the no-confidence motion is debated – for as long as necessary – this week.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici pounced on the Opposition and questioned whether it was withdrawing the procedural motion without any condition.
When Mr Mizzi and Dr Farrugia appeared hesitant, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the Opposition’s mask had been uncovered. Instead of waiting for the government to pass several money Bills, the Opposition had insisted on a motion of no confidence, which it wanted to rush through at all costs.
But Mr Mizzi accused Dr Mifsud Bonnici of using delaying tactics and “filibustering”, stressing that the Opposition never wanted to limit the discussion but ensure it took place as soon as possible.
At one point Dr Mifsud Bonnici explained the definition of filibustering to Mr Mizzi and added that, though he was a court lawyer who was very capable of prolonging situations, he was not doing so in this case.
He added that, if the procedural motion were to be withdrawn, the government would schedule the discussion of the no-confidence motion to Monday evening.
The Opposition asked for the meeting to be suspended, at which point Dr Mifsud Bonnici, who was answering a text message, signalled that there was no need for such suspension.
Mr Mizzi accused him of wasting time on his mobile phone, provoking Dr Mifsud Bonnici into a heated reaction where he in turn accused the Opposition of interfering in his “personal life”.
After a 10-minute suspension for both sides to consult their parties, the Opposition agreed to the discussion starting on Monday but asked for it to be held in the morning and for the discussion to be concluded on Tuesday or Wednesday at the very latest.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici refused to give any such deadlines and said he did not want to restrict the debate.
The Opposition argued that if every government MP participated in the discussion and took the maximum speaking time, it would have to be concluded by Wednesday anyway.
But the government refused to agree to any timeframes. Dr Mifsud Bonnici said Parliament would reconvene on Wednesday (tomorrow) as usual, with the Education (Amendments) Bill and the Budget Measures Implementation Bill. It would then begin discussing the Opposition’s no-confidence motion on Monday evening without restriction.
The Opposition registered its disapproval and called for the meeting to be suspended in the hope that an agreement between the two sides would be reached on a conclusive schedule for the no-confidence motion debate.
The Speaker adjourned the meeting and said that, if anything changed between the two sides, the meeting would be reconvened before the debate on Monday.
Last night, Dr Debono slammed the decision to start the debate on Monday.
“What happened today showed how some people’s only concern is to cling to power and procrastinate at all costs because they enjoy a comfortable position,” he told timesofmalta.com.
Dr Debono has been highly critical of the way Dr Mifsud Bonnici has handled his ministerial portfolio and of his promotion to Leader of the House.
“Procrastination has been the order of the day, in, for example, justice and home affairs, and other areas. Not all the people can afford the comfort and luxury of such procrastination. The people’s interest is to remove instability, and this stand does not help.”