Is Rome burning? (1)

After the vote against the government, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi declared that he would carry on since he still enjoys the confidence of Parliament.

How long do some of the MPs in the party prop up a lame government?- George Zammit, Mosta

What confidence? Is he dreaming? We have had Franco Debono vote against the government and now Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando did the same. Jesmond Mugliett abstained on the same vote. That is 10 per cent of the MPs in the government. What kind of confidence is that in the Prime Minister and his party?

Dr Gonzi reminds me of the film Is Rome Burning? Nero is looking at the inferno that was Rome and is playing his lyre.

There followed another infamous declaration. Dr Gonzi declared that Richard Cachia Caruana would be with him at an important European meeting in Brussels this week. Does this mean that the Prime Minister is defying Parliament? Will the opposition take this lying down? Once Mr Cachia Caruana has been forced to resign he should collect his belongings from Malta House in Brussels and go home to enjoy his pool.

The Prime Minister has lost the people’s trust and possibly the trust of many in his party. Are we heading for a party split? How long do some of the MPs in the party prop up a lame government? Because Dr Gonzi is doing nothing to correct his ways. Some ministers are more equal than others and the backbenchers have one vote each when push comes to shove.

Dr Gonzi has been warned by many an author of authority, including the editor of The Times, that there is only one solution to the uncertainty that pervades Malta – and that is an immediate election. Does he think that what Austin Gatt declared some time ago, that the Nationalists should rule for another 20 years, is true? Can the Prime Minister be so naïve? One can fool some of the people some of the time but one cannot fool all the people all the time. Dr Gatt lost the 1996 election for the Nationalists and if the Prime Minister listens to him he will lose the next election too.

This government has been in power for far too long. It has made itself believe it has some divine authority to ride roughshod over everyone. In its last weeks or even days in power the government is trying to buy votes by any means, spending the people’s money like a group of drunken sailors out to outdo each other. All along, Malta is sinking under the enormous debt created by the Nationalist Party since 1992.

How can we take any more arrogance like the declaration by Birkirkara mayor Michael Fenech Adami, who refuses to give back €5,000 overpaid to him? Has his eminent father nothing to say about this business? He has pronounced himself on many deeds by Nationalist MPs, particularly those of Dr Debono.

In my view, the political system as we have known it for the last 150 years is heading for a massive change. The absolute power in the hands of the Prime Minister is tantamount to an oligarchy and has to be pushed back. One single man cannot dictate all to a nation. All around us heads have rolled because of their arrogance.

How long can we endure this all-powerful system? One minister had even suggested that with a majority of five, why should the PN go to Parliament at all? Voting in Parliament should be free and MPs should be able to express themselves freely on any subject. However, time will tell.