PN continuing contacts with Franco Debono

The Nationalist Party has continued its contacts with Franco Debono since his abstention in the no confidence vote on Thursday and it is still hoping to normalise the current situation, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said on TVM's Dissett today.

Dr Borg said the government intended to continue its legislative programme for as long as that was possible, and one would draw conclusions if that was not possible.

There are currently two crunch money bills before parliament, one to amend the Education Act and another for the implementation of the Budget measures.

Asked whether the government could proceed after it had been likened to a car with a punctured tyre, Dr Borg said a tyre would be repaired. He said that the government remained committed to serving his legislature and it was also open to ideas on sectors such as party financing legislation (one of Dr Debono's pet subjects).

Dr Borg said he did not know if Dr Debono would attend tomorrow's extraordinary meeting of the PN General Council. However the coucil was important because that was the organ which elected the party leader, and it should always been involved in such situations so that the members could have his say, Dr Borg said.

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat, interviewed during the same programme, reiterated his call for a general election, insisting that was the way how current instability could be removed. Delay would harm the country, he said, although Labour would ultimately benefit.

He said his purpose in calling the confidence vote was to test whether the government had a majority, and the government had been unable to muster a majority in parliament. 

Dr Muscat said he was also sure that a Labour government would have the best Cabinet Malta had ever had. The Labour Cabinet would be united and the group would not have 'Franco Debonos' in that they would all be agreed on the way forward. He said he did not vet candidates on what they did in their past, but what they wanted for the future.

Dr Muscat also said that Cyrus Engerer was not a Labour candidate.