Whether thanks to the Speaker’s casting vote or because the required majority was not secured, the opposition’s motion of no confidence in the government was not approved.
As expected, Nationalist MP Franco Debono – whose declaration that he would no longer support the government in Parliament led to the motion being presented – opted to abstain. The rest of the 69 members of the House were equally divided, meaning that nobody could say the government had lost the trust of the majority in Parliament. The motion was then defeated when the Speaker used his casting vote.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi soon declared in a comment to the press – though he did not field any questions – it was a clear and categoric vote, adding that Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat should take note of that.
Dr Muscat, he said, had hoped the government would collapse and would become Prime Minister the following day. One becomes Prime Minister if one enjoys the support of the people, Dr Gonzi insisted. And so say all of us.
Of course, Dr Muscat’s reaction was completely different. He insisted that the government had lost its political majority in the House and that Dr Gonzi – whom he described as a “wait and see” Prime Minister – should immediately go to the polls.
The country, he stressed, was faced with a democratic deficit and had a governability problem.
As the situation stands now, there are two realities this country is facing.
One is the fact that, both legally and constitutionally, the government is right to insist that the opposition did not succeed in its bid to prove in Parliament that Dr Gonzi no longer commands the trust of the majority. That should be clear to all and the situation will continue to remain so for as long as the House does not decide otherwise. In other words, the Prime Minister is legally correct to insist that the prerogative on when to call an election rests within him and him alone.
Yet, and this is the other reality the country has to deal with, from a purely political and moral viewpoint it is evident that the government is far from being in a position to say it is business as usual.
The Nationalist Party has 35 elected representatives in Parliament where it has a one-seat majority. Thirty-four declared their trust in the government. One abstained.
In the circumstances, the President may want to summon both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to assess the situation better and understand what the way ahead is likely to be.
There now seems to be only one way forward: an election as soon as possible. After all, a car with a punctured tyre cannot go very far.
Admittedly, going to the polls at this stage may be against the wishes of the two main parties. They would have certainly preferred having more time to prepare themselves better before facing an election.
The Labour Party might well expect that, with the government having made so many glaring mistakes, Castille is theirs for the taking.
On the other hand, though the Nationalists may have shot themselves in the foot far too often, they are not likely to give up the possibility of regaining power, even though the odds may not be in their favour.
This being a functioning democracy, it is up to the sovereign electorate to make the choice. Given what happened in Parliament yesterday, the sooner electors are called to pronounce their verdict the better for all.