Nationalist backbencher Franco Debono's absence in Parliament during a vote last week was part of a spin exercise by the Labour media that blew the incident out of proportion, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
The Labour media had no ethics and very low journalistic standards, as could be clearly seen in its reporting of Dr Debono's absence, Dr Gonzi said during a radio interview.
On Monday, Dr Debono walked out of Parliament when two votes were taken on amendments to a motion to set up a select committee. One amendment was proposed by the opposition, calling for the Speaker to chair the committee instead of a Nationalist MP.
Dr Debono's absence led to a tie in both votes - 32 in favour and 32 against. Eventually, the amendments fell through with the Speaker's casting vote and it was only when Dr Debono returned to Parliament that the original motions were approved.
after three days of silence, Dr Debono admitted he had planned not to vote because he wanted to convey a message that MPs had to be treated with dignity.
Dr Gonzi said the MP had given his reasons for his absence and reiterated his total loyalty to the Nationalist Party. "He didn't have to explain anything as he was in Parliament and he voted," he said.
Quoting Labour MP Evarist Bartolo, who had said certain things remained the same while the Labour Party changed, Dr Gonzi said the PL's media reporting was a clear example of spin.
The PL had asked people with media experience to draw up a code of ethics for its media but it was simply ignored once completed, he said.
Turning to the Copenhagen climate change summit, Dr Gonzi said he was very disappointed with the summit's outcome.
Although there were high hopes that an agreement would be reached among the 192 countries, no legally-binding treaty was signed.
"I expected much more. The EU was ready to cut its emissions by 30 per cent but only if the other countries committed themselves to raise their emission-reduction targets," he said. But this did not happen so EU countries were still bound to reduce emissions by 20 per cent.
Dr Gonzi said steps in the right direction were still made because, not so long ago, the US was not even interested in cutting emissions.
Climate change was of vital importance to Malta for many reasons. It was closely linked to irregular immigration and rising water levels. Even if the level of the sea increased by a few inches, this would be a disaster for Malta's water table, Dr Gonzi said.
Malta had very high ambitions for emissions reductions and had been included in Annexe I within the UN framework climate change convention, putting it among the developed countries, with all other EU member states except Cyprus. "The new power station extension, together with the submarine cable link with Sicily, will reduce Malta's emissions drastically," Dr Gonzi said.
In a reaction to the Prime Minister's comments, the Labour Party said Dr Gonzi was focusing on the problems facing his party instead of concentrating on the country's woes. Among these are the high cost of water and electricity that are burdening families, businesses and industry.
Instead he is blaming the PL for these problems, the Labour Party added.