Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi did not stand by outgoing Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici during the no confidence motion in the same way he supported Transport Minister Austin Gatt, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
“He treated one minister different from another. He gave Austin Gatt the comfort of collective responsibility, telling him: ‘I’m with you. If you fall, we’ll all fall.’ But he did not do the same for Dr Mifsud Bonnici,” Dr Muscat said.
In last November’s vote on a Labour motion calling for Dr Gatt’s resignation - over the handling of the public transport reform – Dr Gonzi said he shared responsibility for the reform and declared the confidence motion in Dr Gatt as reflecting also on the government.
Dr Gatt had survived the vote on the strength of the Speaker’s casting vote after Nationalist MP Franco Debono had abstained.
In contrast, Dr Muscat said, the Prime Minister did not take the same stand when Parliament last week debated a Labour motion censuring the way Dr Mifsud Bonnici handled the justice portfolio.
All Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi did was encourage the people to send an e-card expressing solidarity with Dr Mifsud Bonnici, he said. The justice portfolio was transferred to Chris Said in January and Dr Mifsud Bonnici resigned from his post of Home Affairs Minister after losing Wednesday’s vote since Dr Debono voted with the opposition.
Dr Muscat referred to an interview in The Sunday Times yesterday in which Dr Gonzi said he wanted a “clear vote” in tonight’s crucial parliamentary vote of confidence in government.
Dr Muscat said the Prime Minister would not impress anyone with his tough talk of wanting “a clear vote”, arguing that it was “clear” that the vote would go through tonight. However, Dr Muscat said Dr Gonzi had set a new benchmark for confidence motions when he suggested that he would not accept an abstention from within his ranks.
In a vote last January, the Prime Minister chose to plough through despite Dr Debono’s abstention, Dr Muscat pointed out, adding that the opposition would hold the Prime Minister accountable to this benchmark both now and in the future.
Addressing a political meeting in Santa Luċija Dr Muscat said that the fact that Dr Gonzi assumed responsibility for the home affairs’ portfolio did not augur well.
In the past, the Prime Minister had taken charge of the Finance Ministry and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. As a result, Malta had the largest deficit in its history and Mepa had turned out to be a disaster, he said.
Referring to Wednesday’s vote in Parliament, Dr Muscat said Dr Gonzi was in denial and was not facing reality. He wanted to remain in government even though the government had repeatedly been shown not to enjoy a majority in Parliament.
Dr Muscat said Dr Gonzi was not focused on tackling the real problems of the country. Instead he focused on solving the problems resulting from his bad management.