Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and dissenting backbencher Franco Debono met again on Wednesday, their second meeting in 24 hours, The Times has learnt.

The two first met on Tuesday evening in Parliament after a lull of more than a month during which Dr Gonzi took the unprecedented step of seeking confirmation as party leader when everyone thought the country was going for an early election.

The second meeting this week also took place in Dr Gonzi’s office in Parliament.

When contacted yesterday, Dr Debono confirmed the second meeting had taken place but refused to answer any questions on the outcome of the meeting or details of what was discussed.

He echoed Dr Gonzi’s reply when asked about Tuesday’s meeting by saying that the meeting was “cordial”.

Tuesday’s meeting had been planned for last week, sources said, before last Saturday’s vote confirming Dr Gonzi as leader of the Nationalist Party. But this had to be postponed as Dr Debono could not make it.

Before the two meetings in quick-succession, the two had last met officially on January 22 at the Prime Minister’s officein Castille.

Trouble between Dr Gonzi and Dr Debono had long been brewing but reached new heights in January when Dr Debono abstained in a no confidence vote moved by the Labour opposition.

The motion was defeated with the Speaker’s casting vote.

No vote has been held in Parliament since then.

Before that, Dr Debono withdrew his support for the government in Parliament and had declared that he was prepared to work with anyone but Dr Gonzi.

Dr Gonzi’s request for a fully-fledged leadership contest, which turned out to be a one-horse race, was believed to have been an attempt to rally support and put pressure on Dr Debono to fall back in line and support the government again.

Following his confirmation, Dr Gonzi made a conciliatory speech on Sunday to conclude the party’s general council meeting in which he acknowledged that his government had lost touch with the people.

Reacting to this, Dr Debono told Parliament earlier this week that, in view of Dr Gonzi’s admission that mistakes had been made by the government, the formula for the future should be based on the phrase “li tkisser, sewwi” (fix what you break).