Franco Debono this evening reacted to calls for his resignation, insisting that it was whoever was at fault who should shoulder responsibility and resign.
Meanwhile, the Speaker, Michael Frendo, turned down a request by Opposition leader Joseph Muscat to reconvene Parliament to discuss the situation and establish if the government had a majority. The Speaker said he had taken the decision because of the short time remaining for the House to reconvene after the Christmas recess. The House meets on Wednesday next week.
Calls for Dr Debono's resignation have been made, by among others, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, PN General Secretary Paul Borg Olivier and former President and PN leader Eddie Fenech Adami.
"It it whoever makes mistakes who should bear the consequences and Dr Gonzi is not above the law or the Constitution," Dr Debono said.
He also told timesofmalta that he would not contest the next general elections if the PN was still under Lawrence Gonzi.
"It's obvious that I will not be a candidate under Gonzi," Dr Debono said. However, he stressed, everything that he had proposed, such as legal aid during interrogation, and a law on party financing, were in line with party principles.
Yesterday, Dr Debono told The Times that he would not contest the next election with the Labour Party or independently and would either focus on his legal office or emigrate if things came to a head.
Dr Debono said he was appreciative of the support he had found from a lot of people - including some who had taken the initiative to organise a petition in his favour. He said he was not in favour of petitions - in favour or against, but he was grateful that people were recognising that the issues he had raised were of national interest. He said he received more support after a news item on PBS which, he said, people found 'disgusting'.
This afternoon, PN General Secretary Paul Borg Olivier said that Franco Debono should realise that this was not a good time for Malta to face a general election, especially in view of the major economic challenges it faced.
In an interview given to the party media, Dr Borg Olivier said the PN parliamentary group will discuss the issue tomorrow and the executive will do likewise on Wednesday. The Cabinet discussed the crisis this morning.
Dr Borg Olivier said there were various options. In particular, when one did not agree with his leader, he should be the one to resign, rather than contesting the leader.
Dr Borg Olivier said the PN needed to remain focused on the real needs of the country.
This morning, Dr Debono said he had nothing more to say to the PN, pointing out that he had resigned from the party. He denied that he withdrew his resignation.
He confirmed he would not attend the meetings of the parliamentary group and the PN executive.
On Friday, Dr Debono said he would not back the government and would vote against it if a no confidence vote was held in parliament – effectively precipitating a general election 14 months before it is due. On Saturday he said he was prepared to serve under anyone except Dr Gonzi.
See Franco Debono's comments at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120109/local/franco-debono-insists-crisis-is-not-a-party-issue-any-more.401555