Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said this afternoon that the Opposition would not be allowed to distract attention from this weekend's historic 5+5 heads of government meeting which Malta will host.

The top-level meeting will be the first after the Arab Spring and will be focused mostly on that development.

[attach id=211596 size="medium"]Verdala Castle, where the 5+5 meeting will be focused. [/attach]

This, Dr Gonzi said, will be a showcase of international dialogue.

Most of the meetings will be held at Verdala Castle with bilateral meetings at the Auberge de Castille.

Taking part will be Presidents and Prime Ministers from 10 Western Mediterranean European and Arab countries including French President Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Libyan Congress President Mohammed Magarief, the Prime Ministers of Portugal, Algeria and Morocco and the Presidents of Tunisia and Mauritania. The EU will be represented by EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle.

Among the items on the agenda are security, the environment and immigration.

Asked about this morning's events in the House Business Committee, where Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Franco Debono backed an opposition call for urgent debate on the government's car parks privatisation plans, Dr Gonzi said that everyone had to shoulder his responsibilities. He said he would be more concrete at the appropriate time.

Asked if the Budget would still be presented after Franco Debono said he would vote against, Dr Gonzi avoided the question, saying the Budget would certainly not be held this week.

It would be an anti-climax, Dr Gonzi said, if, during such a historic event as the 5+5 meeting, Malta ended up discussing parking.