Lawrence Gonzi’s decision to suspend parliamentary sittings if any of his MPs cannot be present proves another point raised by Franco Debono, that “our country has crawled out of democracy”.

As far as parliamentary democracy is concerned, Dr Gonzi’s grossly arrogant decision proves that, so long as his decision stands, parliamentary democracy is dead.

What will happen if any GonziPN MP – excluding Dr Debono – is unable to attend parliamentary sittings due to illness? What if his/her illness makes it impossible to attend Parliament for, say, a number of weeks? What if one of his MPs falls sick during a parliamentary sitting, will Dr Gonzi ask the Speaker to suspend the sitting, without an adjournment date when Parliament would meet?

In my view, Dr Gonzi has overstepped the limit of political decency.

I am inclined to believe that his decision was dictated to him by the triumvirate running GonziPN’s electoral campaign.