How long the charade?

Our political jargon has evolved to such an extent that we no lon­ger call a spade a spade. Following an abstention from within his ranks on an opposition motion of no confidence the Prime Minister felt he could not proceed with business as usual.

Franco Debono should really show where he stands, before all this turns into a bigger charade- Lino Spiteri

He turned inwards. He wanted to be reassured that he had the confidence of his party, in the form of the PN general council.

But instead of seeking a vote of confidence there, he declared he wanted a leadership contest.

There was no call for that – nobody had challenged his party leadership. One of his MPs, Franco Debono, had challenged his authority in Parliament, as Prime Minister. Still the spade nomenclature was dropped.

The PN leader even cast aside his party statute, which states that a new leader would be appointed when the post fell vacant. Dr Gonzi did not resign to make it vacant. By my premise and practically anyone else’s, he did not need to. He was firmly in the party saddle. The shakiness was in the House of Representatives.

A call for a secret ballot at the general council on a motion of confidence could have been organised without delay. In­stead, the leadership no-contest, according to the PN general secretary, will take around four weeks to organise.

The PN is perfectly entitled to do things according to its way, or even whim. It can also indulge in the superfluous at will, even to the extent that its leader declares he wanted the unnecessary leadership contest to be decided by secret ballot. Such ballots, actually, are always secret. A confidence ballot would also have been secret.

Fact is, though, that over this hiatus in proper parliamentary proceedings, the country – not the party – will be gripped in growing uncertainty. And uncertainty, as is well known, is bad all round.

I was not the only one to be approached by foreign investors, actual and potential, with a query as to whether Malta was gripped by instability. My reply, and surely that of others, was that the government was faced with a bit of bother, but the democratic process was intact.

Now more weeks are going to drag by under an uncertainty cloud. Unless, that is, the PN leader and Prime Minister achieves his real objective. Which, without beating around any games bush, is to exert pressure on a recalcitrant MP to toe the line in the House of Representatives, on a money bill or a fresh motion of confidence moved from the government’s side. Or to resign.

I doubt whether anyone knows what Franco Debono will do. Yet three related things are well known or can be surmised.

One, that a fierce personal onslaught on Debono continues from weighty Nationalists and fellow-travelling dogs of war. Gonzi’s belated call for that to stop fell on deaf ears, a separate challenge to his authority.

Two, that well-meaning and also weighty Nationalists continue with their efforts to make the MP see PN reason, to sink his personal gripes, justified though they are, against the bigger Nationalist good. Preferably, they’d like him to resign but they would be happy enough if, like Cathy, he comes home and pledges loyalty.

The third factor in play is Gonzi’s card, setting the stage for a thumping victory for him as the re-confirmed leader, thereby exerting overall pressure on Debono.

That is a mix of the serious plus the play-acting. The country could do without it in the best of times, let alone in this economically cold season. It is all turning into a charade.

Debono should really show where he stands. He has given himself the option of re-finding loyalty to the Prime Minister, letting him lead according to his own political calendar. Or he should bring down the government, in the interest of the platform he set out, before all this turns into a bigger charade. Or he can resign.

It is his choice, but a choice is called for. Other than for a further ‘unless’ – unless the Prime Minister admits that he cannot count on his MP’s loyalty, even if the chasm between them was bridged through peace builders, and puts an end to uncertainty by taking a dignified decision to call a general election without further delay.

It is time to stop speaking of many things, of cabbages and kings and all the rest. It is time to call a spade a spade.

Meanwhile, it would not be amiss if the public is spared further flights from reality and refusals to call other spades by their proper name. That is evident in the latest slanging match between the two sides.

The Prime Minister and his troops accuse Joseph Muscat, the Leader of the Opposition, of being power hungry – as if not every democratic opposition wants to displace the government at the first opportunity.

The Nationalists forget that in March 1997, 18 months into the life of Alfred Sant’s Labour government, they moved a motion of no-confidence to try to exploit Dom Mintoff’s criticism of his own side.

The old war horse would not be lumbered with that trick and voted with the Labour government (perhaps in the same way that Debono does not want to be blamed for bringing down his much-older government).

In their turn the opposition leader and his forces attack the Prime Minister, with billboards and all, of being passionately glued to the seat of power. As if it is not natural for any prime minister to want to see through his term of office.

Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici’s Labour government (of which I was a member) clung to office up to the last permissible day.

Never a quiet moment in the politics of blessed Malta. Surely, though, the patient people deserve some really bright spots.