Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami (picture) said the attitude displayed by backbencher Franco Debono in comments published in The Times yesterday “confirmed” what he had said about his colleague last January.

The government should continue taking decisions based on what is right, irrespective of whether Franco Debono is on board- Beppe Fenech Adami

“I stand by everything I said and this attitude confirms everything... As you can see, nothing accommodates Franco Debono,” Dr Fenech Adami told The Times when contacted yesterday.

During a radio programme last January, Dr Fenech Adami had described Dr Debono as a power-hungry MP who aspired to become not only minister but Prime Minister.

Dr Debono was quoted in The Times saying he should have been chosen as Lawrence Gonzi’s special delegate over the popular MEP Simon Busuttil, an appointment made by the Prime Minister to try bringing the Nationalist government closer to the people.

The backbencher argued that he was the catalyst for change and had even been quoted in a recent newspaper article saying “GonziPN should go back to being the people’s party that it once was”.

Contacted yesterday, Dr Busuttil and PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier – who also came under fire from Dr Debono – refused to comment.

But Dr Fenech Adami said the government should continue taking decisions based on what was right, “irrespective of whether Franco Debono is on board or not”.

“Whatever was done was done because it was the right thing to do,” Dr Fenech Adami said, refuting the notion that any changes to the government’s leadership style were made because of Dr Debono’s pressure.

“There is a Prime Minister and he is the one who governs,” Dr Fenech Adami said.

Asked whether he thought the political crisis was over, he said: “We will now have to see what happens when Parliament comes to a vote. I would hope that Franco Debono votes with the government in every vote, but it is up to him”.

Last January, Dr Fenech Adami was one of the few PN MPs to lash out at Dr Debono over his threats to bring down the government, which came about as the Prime Minister announced a Cabinet reshuffle.

He had said Dr Debono aspired to become Prime Minister and had spent a long time mounting pressure to be appointed Justice Minister – even when Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, who occupied the role before the latest government reshuffle, was hospitalised. Dr Fenech Adami had also claimed Dr Debono promised to make him justice minister once he became Prime Minister. Dr Debono had denied Dr Fenech Adami’s claims.

Meanwhile, former PN president Frank Portelli, who chose not to vote in last month’s PN leadership election, which strongly confirmed Dr Gonzi’s position as party leader, yesterday appealed for an end to the quibbling.

“This is not about individual politicians vying for top-sounding titles. This is about the Nationalist Party finding out where it went wrong in the last four years – and whether it can remedy the situation at this stage,” he said when contacted.

Dr Portelli said connecting the party with the many disgruntled people in society would be an enormous task which required the ability to empathise.

“The time for talking is over. It is time for action and where necessary eat humble pie. Quibbling about who should be doing what at this stage will not do the Nationalist Party any good – it is already rather late in the day,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Debono yesterday stressed he was not angry with Dr Busuttil but with “the system which penalises those with good ideas while others implement their ideas”.

“Logic would have dictated I would be chosen instead,” he said. “Instead of being shown gratitude for being proved right I see disrespect from those who were proved wrong.” Dr Debono said he had the courage to “force change” and the mistakes he highlighted were acknowledged.

“In such circumstances one would have appreciated the logic of being offered the possibility of implementing the remedies, though I’m not saying I would have accepted.”

Dr Debono said he “appreciated” Dr Busuttil’s approach and did not have a problem working with him.

The MEP’s invitation to him to do so, similar to the invitation made by newly appointed Justice Minister Chris Said, was “genuine and well meant”.

However, the backbencher said the formula for future solutions should be to repair what had been broken through accountability and meritocracy.

“During the past years I have been the catalyst for major fundamental and important reforms in the party and in government, which others implemented, while I sacrificed my political career and ended with police security behind my door,” he said.

FRANCO DEBONO REACTS

In a reaction, Dr Debono said the political, constitutional and justice reforms which this country needed and which he and others would continue to campaign for compared to and complemented the reforms piloted by Beppe Fenech Adami's father in the late 1980s and 1990 for the construction of a modern EU state.
 
These, he said, included a holistic consolidation of the laws, amendments to the Constitution,  reform of the electoral laws, the enacting of the law on political parties and party finance, a stronger and more autonomous Parliament,  a code of administrative law, full respect of fundamental human rights, extensive reforms in the law courts and the Office the attorney general,  improvements to the police corps, as well as a major reforms in the broadcasting and press laws.
 
Malta, he said, also needed a more relevant presidency as guardian of the Constitution. 
 
"I had suggested, weeks ago, that gonzipn needed to go back to being the people's PN that it was in the past. That motif has now been taken on board and hailed. I consider that as a positive step ahead. " thank my colleague and friend Simon Busuttil for his invite," Dr Debono said.
 
"As regards the other comments by Beppe Fenech Adami, I had already dismissed them as false and unfounded and they do not merit any further attention from my part. 
 
"And I repeat that it hurts to be shown disrespect from those who were proved wrong instead of gratitude for being proved right."

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