Nationalist MP Franco Debono described the criticism levelled at him by President Emeritus Eddie Fenech Adami as “highly unfair” and pointed out that the retired politician should have mentioned what he had described as a “mess”.
“First of all was he speaking as a former President of the Republic or as a former-leader of the Nationalist Party? I think Dr Fenech Adami should have mentioned at least what he told me about the ‘mess’ of public transport,” Dr Debono said yesterday.
Dr Fenech Adami, who served as Prime Minister between 1987 and 2004 with a break of 22 months, criticised Dr Debono who abstained in Friday’s vote of no confidence in Transport Minister Austin Gatt, which was defeated by the Speaker’s casting vote, saying that he was “creating a mess” at a very delicate time for the country.
When contacted, Dr Debono said it was Dr Fenech Adami who had first described the public transport situation as a “mess” during a meeting with him.
“It would not have been amiss to put my actions in context” because that changes the whole scenario, he said.
Dr Debono pointed out that it was the mess brought about by the transport reform that “produced instability in the first place within society and if someone had shouldered responsibility” the subsequent events would not have ensued.
The situation became even more unstable when the issue was turned by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi “from individual ministerial responsibility, concerning just Austin Gatt, to collective responsibility”.
“So it is very clear I created no instability. I wasn’t the person in charge of the reform and not the person turning this into a vote of confidence. I only did my duty as an MP representing people in Parliament in the 21st century. Now if doing your duty as an MP voicing the people’s concerns is a mess but creating a mess out of a reform and not shouldering the political consequences is not then something is wrong!” Dr Debono said.
“It would be interesting to see what Dr Fenech Adami thinks should have been the political consequences since his opinion was that someone had created a mess out of the reform. That is what really interests the people,” Dr Debono said.
When asked about whether he was worried about the Prime Minister’s comment after Friday’s vote that his role at the Office of the Prime Minister would be discussed “in due course”, Dr Debono said it was “ironic and surreal”. Dr Debono is parliamentary assistant at the OPM.
“The Prime Minister should have said that I hadn’t been to Castille on a regular basis for months while continuing my work as parliamentary assistant and he knows why”, Dr Debono said.
Dr Debono complained that it was he who had to insist on a meeting with Edgar Galea Curmi, the Prime Minister’s chief adviser, after being elected to Parliament.
“After I was elected it took me a year to meet Mr Galea Curmi.
“He is the chief adviser and I think he should make it a point to meet newly-elected MPs at least once,” he said, adding that “Dr Fenech Adami told me he had been receiving various complaints about him (Mr Galea Curmi)”.