Debono in meeting with PM during House Committee break on Monday, but keeps up criticism

The parliamentary group of the Nationalist Party is due to meet today to set final positions ahead of a meeting of the House Business Committee which is expected to decide when pending Opposition motions will be discussed and voted upon.

The two sides last Monday appeared to inch towards a proposal by the Speaker for a May 23 start date for the debate on a motion censuring Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici but while Foreign Minister Tonio Borg proposed that the vote on that motion would be taken by May 30, Opposition whip Joe Mizzi said the vote should be taken on May 23 itself.

The two sides then agreed to convene their parliamentary groups to see how many MPs wished to participate in the debate and hence how much debating time would be needed. It is not known is the PL group has met since its regular meeting on Monday.

Last Monday, during an interruption in the meeting of the House Business Committee, Dr Debono was seen entering the Prime Minister's parliamentary office with Dr Borg for talks with Dr Gonzi.

When the committee meeting resumed, the discussion shifted to the date of the vote on the Mifsud Bonnici motion, rather than when the debate would start, and he did not appear to oppose the proposals that were being made.

Dr Debono this morning would not comment on his meeting with the prime minister.

Asked about his views on the date of the debate he said: "I have conceded a lot to appease the government and to give the government time to remedy the mistakes which the prime minister himself has admitted.

He also kept up his attacks on the prime minister saying: "The PM has managed to create a controversy on a simple date for a debate after procrastinating about motions which have been pending for months. He thinks he has a right to, and in fact, does bulldoze over everyone and then he expects you to thank him for letting you call an ambulance"

He said that the prime minister had had clashes with practically everyone in the PN, including former ministers, back-benchers and the former and present Maltese European Commissioners (Joe Borg and John Dalli). He had also had disagreements with Eddie Fenech Adami, who was critical of his style, and his brother, who disagreed with him on the divorce vote.

Dr Gonzi, Dr Debono went on, had been defeated in every appointment with the electorate in the past four years including the referendum, local council and MEP elections. He argued that the problems went back to Dr Gonzi's first Cabinet, which problems never came out in public. In that Cabinet,  Dr Gonzi's only change had been been the appointment of Helen D'Amato as a parliamentary secretary after she made it to parliament in a casual election.

The Nationalist MP, who has campaigned strongly for constitutional and parliamentary reform, said that rather than wasting parliament's time since January, the 'kitchen cabinet' should have moved legislation on party financing, the autonomy of parliament, an overhaul of standing orders and a radical reform of the media laws, which were essential elements of a democracy.

He  insisted he was always loyal to the principles and beliefs of the PN and it was others who had strayed. But nothing had been done about them, and he was criticised instead when he spoke up.

"Those who question my loyalty should first ask themselves whether Dr Gonzi had a former Labour canvasser to his cabinet," he said.