When Franco Debono posted the words Partit demokratiku Nazzjonalista on Facebook, rumours spread the Nationalist MP was going to set up a political party.

The words he chose reflected the name of a political party that existed in the 1960s, which was a splinter group of the Nationalist Party. But the MP yesterday quashed the rumours even if his answer was conditioned by an observation that Malta was the only European country to have only two political parties represented in Parliament.

He also pointed out that demokratiku (democratic) was written with a lower case d, explaining this referred to democratic principles and not the name of a political party.

“I have no intention of setting up a political party but even if this were to be the case it would not be something out of this world,” Dr Debono said, when asked about his intentions.

But yesterday the MP ducked the question when confronted on the way he would vote on the May 9 Budget vote in Parliament. “Many things can happen until then.”