Franco Debono’s statement (January 11) that “while some of his constituents were disagreeing with him, he had had a flood of messages of support” must be incorrect, if not misleading.
I come from the fifth electoral district which elected Dr Debono on a PN ticket in the last general election and in the past weeks I have not met one single Nationalist supporter who is not against Dr Debono for the way he is lashing out at the Nationalist Party and its leader and Prime Minister. He was elected as a PN candidate and whoever voted him in office believed that he would be supporting the Nationalist Party in government all through the five years of the legislature.
No PN voter ever dreamt that Dr Debono was such a spoilt child, ready to bring down the government because he was not appointed a minister in this recent reshuffle. Dr Debono has all the right to criticise the government, the Prime Minister and the ministers. But as a PN member of Parliament the least he should do is to support the government, especially in times of crisis.
I happen to know Dr Debono. He might be a good lawyer but the way he is acting shows that he is not a good politician. George Borg Olivier, an exceptional Maltese leader as were his two successors, once told me: “Fil-politika trid tkun taf tibbordja”. If you are a good politician, who is there to serve and with not too much ego, you should know what it means to work as a team: in a political party, in a parliamentary group. You give your ideas, you disagree, you criticise but at the end you have to abide by the will of the majority and toe the party line.
Dr Debono speaks a lot about democracy but when it comes to put into force what he preaches, he is a sore loser, because it is he who is acting in an undemocratic way. It is he who is not abiding by the will of the majority in the PN parliamentary group and executive.
Dr Debono should refrain from threatening to bring down the government. As an honourable member of Parliament Dr Debono has two honourable ways ahead of him: he should either keep his seat in Parliament and toe the party line till the general election in 15 months’ time or else resign his parliamentary seat.
My last word to Dr Debono. If he really wants a place in politics he should decide what side he is on. In politics it is very difficult to change sides because you will lose your credibility with everybody. I remember only one politician who changed sides and still kept his place. This was Winston Churchill who had the luxury of crossing over from one political party to another and still became Prime Minister. But there was only one Winston Churchill!
This is not the time for ego trips. While acknowledging the positive initiatives taken by Dr Debono, I as a PN fifth electoral district voter can never agree with Dr Debono’s antics and political immaturity. I can assure Dr Debono that the PN is not afraid of a general election. It has all the ingredients to be re-elected!