After months of public complaints over the bus reform fiasco, Austin Gatt is now facing internal criticism, with Nationalist MP Franco Debono saying the Tran-sport Minister should “shoulder political responsibility”.
Dr Debono yesterday threatened to abstain in a forthcoming parliamentary vote on a Labour motion calling for Dr Gatt’s resignation if the minister refuses to “do the honourable thing”.
Dr Debono said accountability was an essential element of democracy that was “seriously lacking in the country” and that he had long been saying it needed to be strengthened. “If the minister responsible for public transport reform is not going to shoulder political responsibility and do the honourable thing, I will be abstaining in the vote on the motion in Parliament,” he said.
Dr Gatt should do this, he added, in the best interests of restoring democracy and as a representative of the people within the Nationalist Party.
In reaction, Dr Gatt said everybody was free to act according to his own conscience.
After he was confronted by a feisty University student about the bus service, Dr Gatt said he was “baffled” about why he was being blamed for late buses or Arriva’s failure to respond to customer queries.
Dr Debono’s comments come a day after Dr Gatt’s ministry announced that more than three million passengers used route buses last month, 22 per cent more than in the same month last year.
This is not the first time Dr Debono has criticised the government or used parliamentary votes to issue stern warnings to his party.
A defence lawyer by profession, Dr Debono frequently lobbies for improvements in the justice system, such as the right for suspects to have access to lawyers before interrogation. In December 2009, he failed to turn up in Parliament for a vote on opposition amendments to the government’s proposals to set up select committees and later said this was due to his unheeded complaints about the dignity of Parliament, problems in the south of Malta and fundamental problems in the justice sector.
Dr Debono, who was elected on the fifth district instead of heavyweight Louis Galea, is expected to be challenged at the next election by Manwel Delia, who happens to be Dr Gatt’s right-hand man and a main player in the public transport reform.
When contacted, Mr Delia refused to comment on whether this was district politics at play.
Dr Debono has refuted such suggestions, pointing out that he spent 10 years contesting against heavyweights like Dr Galea, Helen D’Amato and Ninu Zammit and was not about to start playing games now.
Responding to questions by The Times, the PN acknowledged that the public transport system had to address the current shortcomings but it ignored the clash between Dr Debono and Dr Gatt.
“The PN expects the government to continue striving towards addressing the current situation in the best interests of the commuters.”
The parliamentary debate on Labour’s motion has not yet been scheduled.