UPDATED - Adds comments by Jesmond Mugliett -

Nationalist MP Franco Debono said today that he will contest a decision by the PN Executive which last night condemned him, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Jesmond Mugliett for the way they voted on the motions in Parliament against Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Richard Cachia Caruana.

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, meanwhile, hit out at the party and accused it of 'apartheid politics' in the past years.

Dr Debono - who voted for the Opposition motion of no confidence in Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici - said he was 'extremely disappointed' by the PN decision because he had done nothing wrong.

"I will seek to contest this decision before the Executive. This is in breach of the basic democratic principles and the rules of natural justice as the decision was taken behind my back when I was in Parliament doing my duty as an MP and proposing measures for justice and home affairs," Dr Debono said. He said he had spoken in the House for over three hours and it had been impossible for him to attend the Executive's meeting. In any case, this issue was not on the agenda. He asked why the matter, in his case, was discussed now, after three weeks.

"The failure was committed by whoever had been responsible for justice and home affairs and by whoever put on the agenda of the House the Opposition's no confidence motion in Dr Mifsud Bonnici before my motion - tabled a month earlier - which was positive and did not include censure. I was treated worse than Labour".

If anything, Dr Debono said, his motion should have been debated before ministerial responsibilities for justice and home affairs were split.

"Is this the gratitude I get for spending all my time pushing and implementing reform which others should have done?" He insisted that his actions were 'never personal' and it was actually himself and his family who were attacked personally. "How could it have been a personal action by me when I am continuing to push for reform?" he asked.

Dr Pullicino Orlando, who voted for the opposition motion calling for Mr Cachia Caruana's resignation, in a hard-hitting statement said:

"It is nothing short of amazing that the PN Executive Committee only chose to condemn the actions of three Nationalist MPs, myself included, when the actions of two of us, myself and Hon. Mugliett, resulted in the resignation of Mr. Richard Cachia Caruana. Hon. Debono was only roped in because it couldn't possibly be avoided in the circumstances, Dr Pullicino Orlando said.

"It would have been far better for the PN Executive Committee to nip the problem in the bud eight years ago when apartheid politics was introduced in the PN. Since then prominent Nationalist M.Ps, loyal representatives of the people and the party, have been vilified, framed and ostracized in an attempt to 'purify' the party of all those who do not form part of or are subservient to the coterie the Prime Minister has chosen to surround himself with"

Dr Pullicino Orlando also hit out at Mr Cachia Caruana, who, he said, decided who should be promoted by the party and who should be sidelined-or worse.

"I would have thought that the Executive Committee of a Christian Democratic party would have served the party interests better had it focused on this serious situation rather than condemn those, such as myself and Hon. Mugliett, who refused to accept it," he said.

JESMOND MUGLIETT EXPLAINS

In a statement, Jesmond Mugliett said he took his decision to abstain in the motion against Mr Cachia Caruana on Monday evening after days of reflection on all aspects of the subject under discussion.

Jesmond Mugliett

He said he never gave any indication of how he would vote . The only meeting of the parliamentary group that was convened about these motions was back in April when the meeting was called with urgency, and he could not attend.

"The way how I voted on Monday was motivated solely by my conviction that Parliament deserves greater respect in the way when and how matters of natural importance are discussed, such as membership of Partnership for Peace," Mr Mugliett said.

The PfP membership decision was not part of the PN electoral programme, Mr Mugliett said and it would have been better if, instead of a hurried decision, the issue was debated in the House.

As had resulted, had a debate been held in the House, there would have been consensus. But instead of choosing a manner which would have united the people and respected parliament, a way which raised doubts and questions was chosen.

Mr Mugliett said this was not the first time that he was in a minority in the Executive or the parliamentary group of the PN. He could recall the discussions on the introduction of divorce, when he said, the Executive took a decision which was rigid and categorical.

It was not easy to be in an absolute minority in one's party, a situation which certainly did not lead to any personal gain.

"I believe that any politician should not shirk from taking a stand, however difficult, when that is in the interest of society."

"I regret that the Executive was so selective in its condemnation of personal attacks. It would have been better had the Executive had an honest debate on the personal attacks made on a number of us – attacks whose purpose was to deny us the opportunity of objective contribution to politics," Mr Mugliett said.