Updated Wednesday 7 a.m.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is today expected to announce a “development” in the hugely controversial ministers and MPs salary raise issue.
Dr Gonzi yesterday evening met Nationalist MP Jean-Pierre Farrugia who, over the past weeks, has been vitriolic in his criticism of the way the matter was handled.
Emergency meetings of the Cabinet and the Nationalist parliamentary group will be held this morning (Wednesday). Ministers have cancelled previous engagements.
“There are no longer any differences between myself and the Prime Minister,” Dr Farrugia said when contacted after the one-hour long meeting that took place at the Nationalist Party headquarters in Pieta’.
Dr Farrugia refused to say what the developments were, saying the news would be broken by Dr Gonzi.
The Times had wind of a reconciliatory meeting between the two yesterday morning.
At first it seemed the meeting would take place this morning but plans seemed to have changed in the afternoon and the two met at 7 p.m. Questions sent to the Office of the Prime Minister early in the afternoon about a possible meeting remained unanswered and several top PN and government officials remained tight-lipped throughout the day.
The Times yesterday quoted Dr Farrugia saying he was prepared to vote with the Labour Party if it were to present a motion to repeal the rises granted to MPs.
A number of politicians, including the Labour leader and some of his MPs as well as Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Dr Farrugia criticised the rise and said they would renounce it by donating it to charity.
It later transpired ministers had been pocketing the equivalent of their already upwardly revised honoraria since 2008, angering Dr Farrugia even further.
Although he always stressed he would not threaten the stability of the government, he made it clear if the issue came to a vote in Parliament he would vote against it. Since such a vote could classify as a money Bill, such a move could have been seen as a serious vote of no confidence that could bring down the government.
However, it seems there will be no such vote because the rises were already discreetly approved through Parliament by being lumped together with the financial allocations to ministries and Parliament.