Nationalist MP Franco Debono yesterday gave a scathing review of the Prime Minister’s leadership but left the country guessing about whether he will bring the government down or let it limp forward.
A Prime Minister who couldn’t care less... is inviting trouble
At noon today Parliament will vote on the Opposition’s motion of no confidence that was tabled after Dr Debono declared he had lost faith in the government.
Although he has threatened to bring down the one-seat majority government before the motion arose, Dr Debono recently hinted at abstaining, which would leave the government, as one MP described it, with a “slow puncture”.
In his 70-minute speech, Dr Debono spoke like an Opposition leader, accusing Lawrence Gonzi of responding to all criticism with “spin” about job figures while letting the country “crawl out of democracy”.
Although significantly calmer than when he first unleashed his wrath during November’s vote of no confidence in Transport Minister Austin Gatt, Dr Debono’s tongue was still venomous.
“A Prime Minister who couldn’t care less and thinks he has absolute discretion is inviting trouble,” he said fiercely, while smiling Opposition members nodded. “An MP is not a toy.”
He said Dr Gonzi was held hostage by a clique, forcing him to reward failing ministers and punish well-meaning backbenchers, creating a “parallel universe”.
The Prime Minister was left to face the flak alone, with most of the frontbench absent except for ministers Dolores Cristina and Jason Azzopardi.
Dr Debono’s speech came on the third day of debate characterised by attacks made by government MPs on the Opposition and its motion rather than addressing the issues raised by the rebel backbencher.
He was composed, even though he had to twice stop his infamous mobile phone from ringing.
He began by criticising weak libel laws and then pin-pointed the myriad failings in the justice system.
“We have democracy by radio and justice by cassette tapes,” he said, referring to his long-standing complaints about means of communication used in Parliament and Court. As he has done before, Dr Debono slammed the infamous honoraria raise for ministers, the Prime Minister’s vote against divorce, the government’s decision to invest in a heavy-fuel oil power station and the sky-high energy tariffs.
He said the only successful reform in this legislature was to the rent laws – all the others were either shelved or implemented badly.
Claiming to have always been loyal to Dr Gonzi, he said he could not hold back any longer after the PN’s landslide loss at the MEP elections. But instead of heeding his advice, his colleagues “obscenely” asked for his resignation simply because he disagreed with the prevailing culture of lack of accountability.
After his speech, Dr Debono walked out accompanied by parliamentary secretary Mario Galea.