Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi defended his Home Affairs Minister to the hilt in Parliament, saying the opposition had failed to justify its censure motion against Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

Speaking during the debate on the motion, Dr Gonzi said the opposition should explain its motions not present them out of opportunism as was the case with this motion and the one against Richard Cachia Caruana. The two motions had an invisible link.

Dr Gonzi recalled that at the time of the Libyan crisis, Dr Mifsud Bonnici had capably managed things from his end, despite personal problems at the time. He added he could rely on him throughout, but much of the work he did could not be revealed, because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The prime minister said he had listened to each and every speaker, trying to understand what led to this motion calling for the minister’s resignation, but expected a more detailed explanation for a motion he described as “invalid in a legal, technical and moral sense”.

Dr Gonzi said Labour MP Michael Falzon’s two-and-a-half-hour speech had both amazed and disappointed him, as the arguments presented for Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s resignation were both artificial and lacked substance.

Dr Falzon did not persuade or impress anyone. Furthermore, no opposition MP could defend the motion with conviction, and not for lack of trying.

Dr Gonzi said it was unbelievable for Labour to speak about the right to legal aid or human rights. He accused previous Labour administrations of allowing criminals to break into and damage law courts and impeding the PN’s right to protest at Tal-Barrani. Did anyone resign then?

When speaking about the Civil Protection Department, Dr Falzon based his accusation on a missing generator. But, Dr Gonzi said, in June 1998 three copies of an inquiry report into frame-ups had disappeared. Dr Sant saw no reason to hold an inquiry, let alone a resignation.

He said that weighing what Dr Mifsud Bonnici had done in over four years as minister, the inevitable conclusion was that he deserved people’s confidence, and not out of pity or because he was a friend, but because he had earned it.