I was going to write about the new parliament building and how it will become, in its time, a monument. It will be a monument, at least for those who appreciate the finer things in life and whose outlook is not soured by their inability to see beyond their nose, to one of the more honourable prime ministers with which this country has been blessed, Lawrence Gonzi, and to the energy of a much-maligned, but valid nonetheless, minister, Austin Gatt.

Both these gentlemen can look at the Piano masterpiece and feel proud, in the same measure that I walk past it and feel elated that my country, and my favourite city within that country, is lucky enough to have it.

The small-minded and the petty can carp about cheese-graters all they like; all they would be doing is confirm that they have no qualification other than to be classified as navel-gazers driven by their personal agendas.

It will also be a monument to those other, even if less gratifying, features of our political life.

Premier Joseph Muscat, who found enough money to make good and more for the debts of the owners of the Cafè Premier, did not manage to find enough to finish the project as it was intended. Was this because he felt that, having reviled the project and its proponents so much before he was given a mandate to scuttle up the steps to Castille, he couldn’t in good conscience allocate more of our money to it?

Premier Muscat’s minions, generally so good at organising bread and circuses to distract us, the great unwashed, were incapable of putting together a ceremony that would have honoured Italian architect Renzo Piano, a gentleman feted everywhere but, it seems, in this self-absorbed country.

The Debono Affair has significant political ramifications that need some ventilation

By all accounts, Piano was invited to drop by and have a drink and a cup-cake while the great and good inaugurated his masterpiece a week or so ago, and, surprise, surprise, he was otherwise engaged.

The righteous among us will see the building as a monument to the good side of Malta but regretfully take note of the fact that it symbolises much that appertains to the dark side.

But I was overtaken by events happening to the north, in Gozo, where former minister Giovanna Debono’s husband was having his collar felt for various alleged breaches of the law.

Now that the matter is before the courts, I’ll forebear from commenting, also because I know pretty much nothing of the facts and relying on a short newspaper article is not the right way to go about it - not that this ever stopped the valiant exponents of the art of commenting on the blogosphere from shooting their mouths off.

The Debono Affair, though, has significant political ramifications that need some ventilation, so here goes.

One of the major aspects of the case, I emphasise from the political angle, is that it has shown, beyond any shadow of doubt, that Simon Busuttil has grown into his role as leader of the Opposition and leader of the PN.

He was strong enough not to let his knee be jerked into acting when the allegations had not yet concretised into criminal action.

It would have been the easiest of easy steps for him to adopt a holier-than-thou attitude and demand Debono’s repudiation of the whip immediately the rumours had started.

Had he done this and the rumours turned out to have as much substance as Minister Husband of Sai Mizzi’s assertions about former minister George Pullicino, where would that have left him?

Had resignation come from Debono at the time, he would have been able to accept it with good grace but a good leader does not - until it becomes imperative - dump his people simply to look good and curry favour with the fickle and the unperceptive.

Compare and contrast this with the way Muscat kept vacillating, humming and hawing, over the fate of his soldier of steel Manwel Mallia, poised as the latter is to ride gloriously back into Cabinet. Mallia was a minister responsible for the very force that was not exactly covering itself with glory at the time but it still took Premier Muscat aeons, in political time, to do what became impossible to avoid.

Had Debono been a minister and Busuttil her boss, the applicable parameters would have been different but, given the circumstances, Busuttil’s timing was simply spot on.

Incidentally, what price Mallia returning triumphant now that it is becoming rather clear that his lady wife’s citizenship application was the beneficiary of the new, efficient, civil service? I wrote that with my tongue in my cheek for the benefit of those bereft of an English sense of humour, unlike Premier Muscat.

The Debono matter brings into sharp focus the way the opposing sides of the political spectrum look at things: instead of taking action immediately, Premier Muscat and his Minister for Gozo (I want his financial advice as to how to structure loan repayments, incidentally) played the game like a card-sharp on a Mississippi steamer, picking their moment to play the ace. Or was it the joker?

Busuttil, on the other hand, bided his time and took the decisions he needed to when he needed to, in what can only be described as a statesmanlike manner.

It is to be hoped that Premier Muscat, faced say with a minister who plays fast and loose with procedures or one who has no compunctions in allowing a close family member to earn, if I might be allowed a loose use of that word, many, many of our thousands for pretty much the sum total of not much at all, will take the same stance.

Forgive me if I don’t hold my breath waiting for that little thing to happen, just as I’m not exactly holding it while waiting for further investigations into the vote-constructing industry in Gozo to continue beyond a certain date in March, 2013.

On to more enjoyable things, a duty I’ve neglected, for various reasons, for a couple of weeks.

We were kindly invited to sample the cuisine offered by the De Mondion, at the Xara Palace in Mdina and it was excellent, a finding not influenced in the slightest by the reason we were there.

In fact, the whole operation is one that can hold its head up proudly, with a staff and management that are nothing short of superb: they put on a fine wedding reception, too.

In Gozo, Chez Amand in Qbajjar has changed hands and style, with two young Italians now dishing up good honest food that is as good as any you can get in the casalinga trattorie you can find all over Italy. Try it out, it will repay you.

And when you want to revisit another old favourite, go and say hi to Chris at Porto (I almost wrote Ponte) Vecchio in Mġarr because lunch on the terrace is nothing short of great at this time of the year.

imbocca@gmail.com

http://www.timesofmalta.com/blogs

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