Nationalist backbencher Beppe Fenech Adami yesterday made a series of allegations about Franco Debono’s conduct away from microphones and cameras, saying the rebel MP’s only aim was to become a minister.
The proposals Franco Debono is making about democracy are nothing more than a smokescreen for his ambitions
Speaking on the Radio Malta programme Għandi x’Ngħid, Dr Fenech Adami said Dr Debono had asked him to support his actions and be rewarded with the post of justice minister when he (Dr Debono) became prime minister.
Dr Fenech Adami also accused Dr Debono of piling pressure on the Prime Minister to appoint him minister and replace Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.
Dr Debono ranked up the pressure on Lawrence Gonzi when Dr Mifsud Bonnici was in hospital last year, according to Dr Fenech Adami, who is parliamentary assistant in the Justice Ministry.
Dr Debono – who has threatened to bring down the government after Lawrence Gonzi announced a Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month – yesterday denied the allegations.
“I ask him to indicate the time and place where I said (I would make him a minister) because it is an utter lie. This is absolutely false,” Dr Debono said.
However, Dr Fenech Adami did not stop there. He alleged that in the wake of the ill-fated public transport reform, Dr Debono had told him he wanted to get back at Transport Minister Austin Gatt over an incident 10 years ago involving a compensation case he was involved in as a lawyer.
‘What people should know about Debono’
Dr Fenech Adami also said that although Dr Debono publicly showered praise on his father Eddie, the MP could not understand why the former Prime Minister had never recognised his capabilities by appointing him on government boards.
He also claimed that Dr Debono expected the PN to issue a public statement thanking him for ridding the party of former minister Louis Galea at the last election.
Dr Debono was elected from the fifth district for the first time in 2008 while Dr Galea and former parliamentary secretary Helen D’Amato, who contested the same district, failed to make it to Parliament.
Beppe Fenech Adami’s sharp tone yesterday contrasted sharply with the conciliatory tone adopted a week ago by Nationalist backbencher Edwin Vassallo on the discussion programme Xarabank.
Beppe Fenech Adami defended his statements, insisting people had a right to know the facts before Thursday’s vote.
“The proposals Franco Debono is making about democracy are nothing more than a smokescreen for his ambitions and people have to know that Franco’s only interest is to become a minister,” Beppe Fenech Adami told The Sunday Times after the radio programme.
Beppe Fenech Adami felt he had to air his story, adding he was certain there were many more who could recount similar incidents.
The Prime Minister has been reluctant to publish numerous SMSs that Dr Debono sent him over a long period of time which could potentially put the MP in a compromising situation.
But Beppe Fenech Adami believes it is in the public interest to publish messages that shed light on what happened behind the scenes and reveal facts that show Dr Debono’s true intentions.
“I will not tell the Prime Minister what to do but there are many more people who have messages and people have a right to know why MPs will be voting the way they do next Thursday,” Dr Fenech Adami said.
Dr Debono rebutted each of the accusations, saying it was “a lie” that he wanted the PN to issue a statement in relation to his ousting of Dr Galea.
Hitting back, Dr Debono said: “Are these allegations similar to those made by Eddie Fenech Adami on the eve of the election over which he had lost a libel suit?” – in reference to the incident on the eve of the 2003 election when the former Nationalist Prime Minister had incorrectly blamed Labour leader Alfred Sant for blocking his son’s entry into University in the 1980s.
Dr Debono said the allegation related to his grudge against the Transport Minister was linked to a compensation claim made by the heirs of Nardu Debono, who was murdered at police headquarters in the 1980s.
Dr Debono said he had represented Nardu Debono’s heirs sometime after becoming a lawyer, but Dr Gatt, then Justice Minister, had taken the position during a television programme that compensation could only be awarded to the actual victim.
Dr Debono alleged that when the family later engaged Joe Zammit Maempel as their lawyer, they were granted more than €230,000 in compensation.
While denying that this case had anything to do with the public transport issue, Dr Debono said he felt the need to point out that Dr Zammit Maempel was Dr Gatt’s brother-in-law.
A motion of no confidence moved by the Labour Party will start being debated in Parliament tomorrow with a vote expected to be take on Thursday. It is not clear how Dr Debono will vote though he has insisted that he will not support the government.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com