Franco Debono this evening refused to clearly declare on Bondi+ that he wants to bring down the government.

Asked repeatedly by Lou Bondi whether he would declare he would bring down the government, especially after what he told timesofmalta.com on how he will vote in Parliament on the Budget Measures Implementation Bill, Dr Debono insisted that he had said what he needed to say, and he was not a parrot. He also asked Mr Bondi why he was insisting on that question when there was so much more to say.

In a two hour programme, Dr Debono, who was highly agitated at times, insisted that Dr Gonzi should resign, saying he should have done so immediately after the divorce referendum, rather than vote against the will of the majority.

The programme was a battle of wits at times, with Dr Debono and Mr Bondi questioning each other and Dr Debono at times accusing Bondi of twisting things around, claims which Mr Bondi denied. Mr Bondi repeatedly complained that Dr Debono was going off at a tangent and not replying directly to his questions.

Dr Debono confirmed that he would not stand for re-election for as long as Dr Gonzi was at the helm of the PN, but said he did not know what would happen if Dr Gonzi was not there. He ruled out standing as an independent.

His purpose, Dr Debono repeatedly stressed, was to promote democracy. He admitted that he never told the prime minister to resign before his declaration on Friday afternoon (after the Cabinet reshuffle) but said his views had been made clear to the prime minster for months. He had particularly stressed with the prime minister that he disagreed with Carm Mifsud Bonnici's policies at the Ministry of Justice.

Dr Debono also complained that despite his various actions and despite promises of change from the government, nothing had changed, and that was what had precipitated the present situation. It was not because he was not made a minister, he said. He would not have agreed to become a minister for just one year.

But Dr Debono said he was eminently qualified to serve but had not been given the opportunity.

Asked why he had published his secondary school certificates, Dr Debono said he had been accused of acting like a child, and he had therefore shown his childhood certificates to show his capabilities, even when he was a child. 

Dr Debono repeatedly complained of the libel laws and lack of progress in many areas including the right of access to a lawyer by arrested persons. He criticised the government's decisions on the power station and said his actions in the no confidence vote against minister Austin Gatt were not motivated by a personal desire to see Austin Gatt removed, but a clamour by the people for those who had failed - as in the case of the bus service reform - to shoulder their responsibilities.

Unfortunately, he said, the Cabinet reshuffle showed that no one assumed responsibility for his actions. The prime minister, he said, was still controlled by a clique around him.

He refused to say who was in the clique, telling Lou Bondi that tht was something which he should investigate.