Nationalist MP Franco Debono said in Parliament yesterday evening that in view of last Sunday’s acknowledgement by the Prime Minister that mistakes had been made by the government, the formula for the future should be based on the phrase “li tkisser, sewwi” (fix what you break).
Referring to last Sunday’s speech by the Prime Minister, Dr Debono said that at last spin had given way to an acknowledgement of reality. Dr Gonzi had shown sensitivity.
Over the past months, Dr Debono said, he had been insulted for standing up to complain that things were not going well, and he therefore warmly welcomed last Sunday’s comments by Dr Gonzi. Now that he was being proved right, he could not help wondering about those who had circulated a petition asking him to resign from the House.
An apology was in order, he said. At least he should be thanked, like hundreds of people had already thanked him.
Over the past weeks, he added, the metaphor of the car suffering a puncture had been used. But the problem over the past weeks was not the tyre, which was actually hard-wearing, but the engine or the driver.
It was also surreal, Dr Debono said, how, 20 years after tangentopoli and mani pulite, practically no one was raising the issue of party funding.
Dr Debono said he could not understand how Mark Anthony Falzon, a sociology lecturer writing in The Sunday Times, had dismissed his arguments on the oligarchy – the power vested in a few persons network.
It was worrying that he did not seem to know about the manoeuvres by people who never stood for election but wielded enormous power. He did not seem to be concerned about some people having a finger in every pie, or that ministers stayed in office for ever, whatever they did or did not do.
It was worrying for him, Dr Debono said, that many in Malta said more about the secondary school certificate he produced when somebody accused him of acting like a child, but no one spoke on the pressing need for a party-funding law.
Dr Debono said the principles which Dr Gonzi spoke about last Sunday should also be applied to the Cabinet, including issues such as merit. How could Malta continue to have a situation where no minister assumed responsibility for the eyesore of a law courts building, but then the Home Affairs Minister turned up at the airport every time some six migrants left Malta?
The Nationalist MP said another Sunday Times writer, Micaela Spiteri, made an interesting observation about growing up in a society with certain misconceptions, such as that Giga killed her son. It was important, Dr Debono said, that society took a hard look at itself.
He said he welcomed political satire. It was an art in itself, and it helped to break down hate. It also could help bring focus on values. The fact that for 70 years the people thought satire was disallowed was a reflection on a society that was submissive.
Dr Debono said he welcomed Dr Gonzi’s speech with open arms. Others, those who had been destructive, those who made mistakes and whoever built without a permit were still there.
But Dr Gonzi was different last Sunday. He did not seem to be acting on the advice of his usual advisers. But the bottom line remained that what had been damaged needed to be fixed – li tkisser sewwi.
Last Sunday’s speech by Dr Gonzi was written by his own personal sacrifices and that of other MPs who had spoken internally, Dr Debono said. In his speech Dr Debono reiterated his criticism of the use of heavy fuel oil for the Delimara power station.
He also referred to the trapping controversy with the EU and regretted that his suggestion for a capture breeding programme had been ignored. Dr Debono said he was a canary breeding enthusiast and had even suggested the setting up of a centre on bird migration programme and a bird ringing process. Those suggestions too were ignored, even though they would have married the interests of different sectors of society.
For the future, Dr Debono said, the key was to give justice to those people who had suffered.
“Li tkisser, sewwi” he repeated.