People driving into Floriana yesterday were greeted by a Labour Party billboard that had many doing a double take.
Franco Debono is an energetic and pro-active Nationalist MP who made, and continues to make valid calls
It is a remake of one of the PN’s most iconic billboards of the 2008 general election campaign, except that Lawrence Gonzi is not the protagonist.
Instead it shows the face of rebel backbencher Franco Debono next to the original slogan promising voters “peace of mind” under Dr Gonzi.
Some initially got the impression that it was a PN billboard that had the MP saying these words. There was, indeed, nothing to suggest it was a Labour advert other than a sentence in fine print on the lower right hand side, saying it was done by the Labour Party’s Communications Office.
It would, therefore, appear to be a Labour attempt to rub salt into the PN wounds following a series of embarrassing episodes in the past weeks in which the government was left guessing what Dr Debono’s next move would be in parliamentary votes.
The MP embarrassed veteran minister Austin Gatt by abstaining on a vote of no-confidence moved by the Opposition in Parliament, forcing Dr Gonzi to call a confidence vote in his government.
Then came a surprise announcement by Dr Gonzi conceding to Dr Debono’s urgent requests for constitutional amendments and the splitting of the ministerial remits of justice and home affairs. This was on the eve on an important budget vote to which Dr Debono had initially declined to commit himself. When asked to explain its reasoning, the Labour Party said it did not understand the “fuss” over the poster, adding that it was about “the person calling the shots within government”.
When contacted, Dr Debono said: “I have no comments to make on the billboards but let’s look at the validity of the proposals I have been making regarding political and constitutional reforms and reforms in the justice sector which should lead to stronger institutions and a new political culture.”
The Nationalist Party described the billboard as “petty” and “an attack by the Labour Party on the Prime Minister and one of our MPs”.
A party spokesman went on to eulogise Dr Debono, seen by many Nationalists as one of the party’s greatest liabilities.
“Franco Debono is an energetic and proactive Nationalist MP who made, and continues to make, valid calls and pushes for reforms to strengthen democracy – as well as reforms in the justice sector, both within the party and in Parliament, which this country needs to discuss and will implement, where necessary.”