Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil announced key decisions less than two hours after the arraignment of former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono’s husband.
In a press conference, Dr Busuttil said that as soon as he got wind of Anthony Debono’s arraignment he met Ms Debono, and soon after she presented her letter of resignation from the PN parliamentary group, which he accepted. Ms Debono will now be considered as an independent MP.
“I held a cordial meeting with Ms Debono when I informed her that, following the latest developments, her position in the PN had become untenable,” Dr Busuttil said.
Asked whether he had asked her to resign, Dr Busuttil skirted a direct reply, saying she offered her resignation soon after the meeting. “It’s up to you to draw the conclusions,” he said. He admitted having accepted her resignation with a heavy heart because Ms Debono has dedicated most of her life to politics and, especially, to Gozo.
The situation that has developed in Gozo is extraordinary and needs to be tackled
It was important to underline that one was presumed innocent until proven otherwise, Dr Busuttil pointed out.
He said that in view of the new situation prevailing in Gozo, where the PN now had only two MPs representing him and following the bad result there for the party in the latest round of local elections, he had asked Chris Said, the shadow minister for Gozo, to leave the post of general secretary and dedicate all his energy to the Gozitan district.
Dr Said immediately accepted and he will not be contesting the post again.
His term of office ends at the end of the month. Apart from Ms Debono and Dr Said, the PN is also represented in Gozo by veteran MP Fredrick Azzopardi, who has already announced he would be retiring at the end of this legislature.
“The situation that has developed in Gozo is extraordinary for the PN and needs to be tackled through extraordinary measures. This is why I asked Dr Said to dedicate all his energy to Gozo with clear instructions to make the PN once again the natural home for Gozitans. I am sure he will deliver, as he already did with great success in the regeneration of the internal structures of the party during the last two years,” Dr Busuttil said.
He said the decisions he made were in line with his declarations that he would take the necessary action once the police concluded their investigations into the Debono case.
“As soon as I was elected PN leader I promised a new style of politics and rigorous political standards. Here I am, putting in practice what I preach,” Dr Busuttil told journalists.
He said that, on the other hand, the public was witnessing a Prime Minister who did whatever was possible to defend the wrongdoing of his ministers and MPs. He cited the issue of a passport by former home affairs minister Manuel Mallia to his wife, allegations of illegal building surrounding the husband of Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli and the employment of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi’s wife on a €13,000 monthly salary.
Declaring full respect for the institutions and confidence in the police, Dr Busuttil said allegations of works in private residences ordered by the present Gozo Minister, Anton Refalo, should be investigated in the same manner as those which allegedly took place under the previous administration.
In a statement, the Labour Party said that had it not been for the whistleblower that raised the alarm on the Debono scandal, the case would have not come to light.