The good lawyer from Ghaxaq has done it all again. After a few weeks of respite where life went on graciously, and we thankfully hardly knew if parliament functioned or not, the man woke up again. And like a volcano—if volcanoes could serve any uppercuts—he let out a series of direct uppercuts to all his opponents. Hold on let me re-phrase that: direct uppercuts to his friends, fellow party people and his own, democratically elected, and chosen, leader.
And the most cherished appreciation came from his direct nemesis, the leader of the opposition. No smile ever seemed more Cheshire-like. Alice we need you back to take us out of our inverted wonderland. If it wasn't that we take each other so seriously I'd definitely start believing we are all on the most entertaining mushroom trip ever imagined.
Anyway let's leave our magic mushrooms aside and stick to the silly stuff. Franco Debono has, in quick succession and with hardly a minute's break from his interviews and comments on anything which will accept his words of wisdom, moved on from just being a top student in religion (no less!) to the man who will dare fight and debate any known, unknown and historic villain.
From the now-long-departed Mikiel Gonzi, Archbishop of Malta to his nephew Lawrence Gonzi prime minister of Malta, soon to lose his patience and his majority in parliament, to Richard Cachia Caruana he flings his challenges and also shows unending chagrin to his own parliamentary whip. Wind them on say I—this man is truly a hurricane and nothing's going to stop him till he remains getting the spotlight. And spotlight he duly deserves as he is our hero who will save all our ills and solve all our worries. Wind them all on and then whip them as only you know how to do it—whip them till they cry and bleed. We need heroes to put all villains just where they deserve to be—on the scrapheap of history. As they say in the good book—prophets and Marvel heroes are not appreciated at home.
Who else in this little isle was going to do what the gentleman lawyer from Ghaxaq did? And then proceed to challenge his own party leader to a debate? He was gracious enough to give the poor beleaguered PM the advantage of having two ministers to help him out in the slug-fest. Have it in public said the hero—and televised. I'm still impressed the world stations haven't come screaming for an exclusive. "Franco takes on the world and wins" will scream the newspapers' headlines. Of course the PM, without his oligarchs and his hidden advisers, would never have accepted. He is too scared. He quakes each time the shining hero, the knight of valour puts up his shield.
Actually the only shield this man wears—just like his good friend and fellow traveller, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando—is his knowledge that he has a vote in parliament that could save or wreck the PN's majority. Think little boy playing a game of football; think ball; think boy owns ball. Think if boy doesn't get it his way he cries and takes ball away so hey other little boys (and maybe girls) there won't be any game because I own it and I am going home to mummy to stamp my feet and play football with my granddad who lets me win every time anytime anyway. So there! End of story.
Well no it isn't the end of our story. The MP will play havoc with the rules of democracy—and ironically quotes chilling chapter and veritable verse to prove how he is doing it all to save us from our enemies, alive and departed. One last thing: the last MP who toppled a Labour government was another hero, a saviour, another true marvel. And interestingly he too had challenged someone to a public debate when the politico-religious war was on: Mintoff had issued the challenge to Archbishop Gonzi which also, thankfully, went unheeded and unaccepted.
Are the parallels between our saviours, our supermen, too close to believe they are just coincidences? Is Franco Debono morphing into Dear Dom himself?