Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Lawrence Gonzi received “thousands” of text messages from former backbencher Franco Debono throughout the last legislature, the former Prime Minister reveals in an interview today.

“They came at all hours of the day and night... It was a five-year saga. It started on day one!” Dr Gonzi tells The Sunday Times in a candid interview.

The Opposition leader’s statement comes two weeks after PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier also said he was at the receiving end of Dr Debono’s text messages.

Dr Gonzi says the SMSs from the former MP who eventually brought down his own government were a source of uncertainty, tension and pressure for him and his family.

He was reluctant to divulge the contents of the text messages, though he did say that on one evening the former MP demanded to speak to him while Dr Gonzi was locked in a crucial EU summit in Brussels.

I’m losing sight in my right eye

Dr Gonzi also speaks openly for the first time about the fact he was losing sight in his right eye.

“It’s a condition which hasn’t improved in the past 12 to 15 months notwithstanding treatment and injections in the eye. It’s a terrible experience,” he says about the problem which was first diagnosed in January 2012 in the midst of the PN Government’s crisis.

Six weeks after the PN lost the election by 37,000 votes, Dr Gonzi also hints he will be giving up his parliamentary seat once the new Nationalist leader is chosen.

He says his party’s hierarchy should have the freedom to criticise his past decisions so his absence could eliminate an obstacle for such discussion.

Joseph Muscat’s decision to provide a waiver for Parliamentary Secretary Franco Mercieca to see to his patients was lambasted by Dr Gonzi as “scandalous”.

Branding Dr Muscat an “emperor”, Dr Gonzi says it is unacceptable for a Cabinet member to be reduced to a part-timer, and insists Mr Mercieca should have chosen between a career in government and his private practice.

In another interview with The Sunday Times today, Mr Mercieca says the controversy which erupted about the code of ethics was a storm in a teacup.