A party activist and potential electoral candidate has insisted he will continue with house visits despite being publicly chastised by the Nationalist Party following a complaint by vociferous backbencher Franco Debono.
I have no problem with the PN and will continue serving the party in any post I am asked to- Schiavone
Replying to questions by The Times, a party spokesman accused Hermann Schiavone of incorrectly calling himself a PN candidate despite being specifically told not to present himself as one.
However, Dr Schiavone – who would be a district rival of Dr Debono – insisted he would continue with house visits as a party activist and a potential electoral candidate.
“One must consider the PN’s declaration within the context of the prevailing political situation,” Dr Schiavone said when contacted about the PN’s declaration.
“I have no problem with the PN and will continue serving the party in any post I am asked to and so will members of my family. If need be I will contest the election but if the party wants me to serve elsewhere, I will do that too” he said.
Asked whether he felt the PN made the declaration to appease Dr Debono at a delicate time when it needs the backbencher’s support in Parliament, Dr Schiavone said: “You can draw your own conclusions. But you have to see things in this context. I have no problem with the party and I understand why they had to make this declaration.”
The matter is over an incident that happened in 2003 when an anonymous letter claiming wrongdoing by Dr Schiavone forced him to withdraw his candidature on the same district as Dr Debono.
Dr Schiavone told the Prime Minister’s right-hand man, Edgar Galea Curmi, in 2009 he suspected the letter had been sent by Dr Debono, an allegation Dr Debono strongly denies.
Dr Debono revived the issue last week after PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier said the backbencher’s demands to split the justice and home affairs portfolios before the year’s end or else he no longer would support the government in Parliament were not particularly helpful in the present economic scenario.
Dr Debono says Dr Schiavone’s allegation caused him “untold harm”.
The PN described the allegation by Dr Schiavone as unacceptable.
“It is unacceptable for the Nationalist Party that a serious allegation is made against one of its MPs by a person who then fails to either substantiate the allegation when asked to do so or to withdraw the allegation,” the party says.
I am an activist. The process of selecting candidates has not yet started
When asked whether he would withdraw the allegation, Dr Schiavone pointed out that he was not the one who put it in the public domain.
“I therefore have no other comment to make. Everyone knows there are competent institutions to resort to when people feel aggrieved.”
“I will not stop my work in favour of the party. Next week, I will continue with home visits. I think home visits are important to convey the party’s message to the people,” he said.
But will Dr Schiavone present himself as a candidate?
“I am an activist. The process of selecting candidates has not yet started. So the party was correct to say I am not yet a candidate... But I will continue serving the party and making sure its message reaches the people. If I contest the next election, I will canvas for myself. If not, I will canvas for other PN candidates,” he said, adding that he had done the same during the MEP election campaign despite not being a candidate.
Dr Schiavone pointed out that he had asked the Police Commissioner to investigate the claims made in the anonymous letter and he had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Talks between Dr Debono and top government officials on his demands continue but the impasse persists and the government has not yet given an indication as to how it plans to deal with the problem.