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Gonzi on life support, Muscat with egg on his face

Two facts are clear: Muscat failed in his bid to topple the government, Gonzi does not have a working majority in parliament and is on life support.

jamesdebono
James Debono 26 January 2012, 12:00am
2 min read
Short of recovering Debono’s support, Gonzi may gain some valuable time but he cannot escape the inevitable showdown.
Short of recovering Debono’s support, Gonzi may gain some valuable time but he cannot escape the inevitable showdown.

In 1998 Joseph Muscat had advised Alfred Sant that it is better to live a day as lion than a hundred days as a sheep. Sant took his advice and Labour was voted out of power. By pushing for a confidence vote, Muscat was consistent to the advice he gave Sant 14 years ago. The lion roared but did not bite.

The disappointment on the face of Labour MPs as they walked out of the house spoke volumes. Instead of letting the government implode in its contradictions, Muscat led the Opposition into a wall even if he was exercising a democratic prerogative.

On the other hand, Lawrence Gonzi admitted his readiness to humiliate himself in the interest of the nation.

I would question Gonzi's invocation of the national interest, as one may well argue that he did so to cling onto power. But Gonzi's timid approach paid off, at least for the moment. If he drags on irrespective of the vote, his position will be untenable. Therefore the glee on the face of Nationalist MPs is far from justified.

Without entering into the merits of the constitutional debate and the prerogatives of the President, politically the government does not command a majority to carry on with business as usual.

The last time Debono abstained on a no-confidence vote against a government minister, Gonzi felt the need to ask for a confidence vote in his government.  Now he is in a worse position than he was after Debono abstained on the Arriva motion. The government is now on life support.

The government will probably cling to power for a few months, reminding the opposition that back in 1997 a Labour government held to power through the casting vote of the speaker on a budget vote. But that would not eliminate the climate of political and economic uncertainty in the country.

Short of recovering Debono's support, Gonzi may gain some valuable time but he cannot escape the inevitable showdown.

The only silver lining in all this is that Franco Debono now has a golden opportunity to press on with reforms like that on party financing. Gonzi has already declared that he agrees with Debono's reforms. So why not grab this opportunity and enact these crucial reforms before the inevitable election?

James Debono is MaltaToday's chief reporter on environment, planning and land use issues, ...
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@A Vella don't feel so smug time will tell and the disappointment would be bigger. With regards insects better a beetle than a blood sucking mosquito.
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Is it just my impression or are Mintoffian beetles getting more and more frustrated that Joseph Muscat remainz practically but not quite PM?
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@A Vella Muscat made no mistake but did his duty, for you and others to say otherwise is your democratic right but not necessarily correct.If anything the result of the motion will only make Gonzi the butt of a good number of jokes politicians have the habit to make about one another in international fora. Just imagine what real respect( not the taps on the shoulder type) he can gain when he cannot garner the respect of on of his own MPs.
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Gonzi has gone record saying that he seeks the party's confidence, but I believe he is PM of all Malta and not just gonzipn, or am I wrong here? All this goes to show that gonzi is : 1. A chicken, he should have called a vote of confidence himself in parliament and not abbrogate the responsability and let others do it for him. 2. Gonzi has finally admitted that the government and gonzipn are one and the same and that the interests of the party come before those of the country. 3. Just imagine if Dr Sant did the same back in 1998 how shocked gonzi would have felt at this act of desperation. 4. gonzi should after all grow up.
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"The government will probably cling to power for a few months, reminding the opposition that back in 1997 a Labour government held to power through the casting vote of the speaker on a budget vote." ..... and what was gonzi's reaction then and what is his reaction now? Completely opposite and it is embarrassing for people like you to jot down what interests you only and not the whole story.
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@ not amused- seems we keep each other amused after all :) :), reading through our posts I surprisingly read that we both agree on most aspects of the current sorry state of the government, and an apparently weak opposition. Hopefully whenever an election is held the people will use some common sense and elect not only a deserving party but one that has talented MPs too.
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For those with eyes to see and ears to hear and some Gray matter in between; These past three weeks have regaled us with all the sordid details of how this government works. Everything that the Labour party and what most balanced people have been saying was confirmed repeatedly by Nationalist MP's. How's that for exposing and confirming the sordid details. Don' t forget that at no time did the PN or it's paid apologists deny any of the accusations thrown at them.
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@kalamita. I cannot help but smirk at being stamped Gonzitan ( good one that ) for criticizing the PL's knee jerk actions in this PL/Debono dispute. Unfortunately in Malta, everyone is either labelled black or white, totally overlooking that there is whole spectrum of colours in between. I do not have any doubt that Malta has and will always be resourseful enough to ride any storm irrespective whoever is in government. In fact, it is our typical party politics, which stifles meritocracy and accountability, that oftens proves to be the real handicap of Malta's progress. This PN government is, honestly speaking, well past it's due date and should have been ousted during the last election anyway. Unfortunately, this PL is not exactly a fresh wind in politics either. Despite the young leader and a new logo, the roots are still vividly 'mintoffjani' and the PL actions in this scenario were decidedly 'partisan driven', opportunistic and just plain immature.
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Egg on the face? the Ostrich laid it for breakfast and we're all having some.
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some still think that the political fight is still between "mintoffjani" and the "Gonzos"! Funny and dumb.
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Ian George Walker •
This article reminds me of the story about the man who saw two people arguing whether 2+2 equals 4 or 6 and suggested they should agree that 2+2 equals 5. The fact is that the LP moved a motion of no confidence to test the Governments majority in the House and proved that it is, at best, seriously defective. How that translates as "egg on Muscat's face" is something only James Debono can explain. Probably the result of a misconceived idea of what journalistic balance entails.
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@ not amused- Messiah!! ha good one- the good thing about Franco is that he will help reform the PN into a party that delivers once again. I never once mentioned, invoked or implied the involvement of the LP as anybody with half a brain cell knows that this is all an internal PN issue- something that Gonzi himself admitted. Unfortunately an issue that is severely hampering the country. So since you are a Gonzitan as bad as the worst Mintoffians were, just dont presume all who believe in the good of a PN government are as comatose and blinded as you!
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@kalamita. Sorry to burst your bubble but you must be one of those who perceived Dr. Debono as the messiah who will deliver the holy grail to the PL. So did Joseph Muscat, so you are in good company. But Dr. Debono’s agenda goes further than that and one doesn’t dispose of an evil and risk by replacing it with an unknown quantity. I can understand your frustration but a man of substance does not just transfer his favours from one party to the other. You may call Dr Debono whatever you want but he is certainly not a PL stooge and definitely not a PN yes man either. The PL Leader has learnt his lesson and if he intends to win the next election, he should use the time to convince the electorate and earn the victory rather than getting caught trying to pinch the lolly.
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@kalamita. Sorry to burst your bubble but you must be one of those who perceived Dr. Debono as the messiah who will deliver the holy grail to the PL. So did Joseph Muscat, so you are in good company. But Dr. Debono’s agenda goes further than that and one doesn’t dispose of an evil and risk by replacing it with an unknown quantity. I can understand your frustration but a man of substance does not just transfer his favours from one party to the other. You may call Dr Debono whatever you want but he is certainly not a PL stooge and definitely not a PN yes man either. The PL Leader has learnt his lesson and if he intends to win the next election, he should use the time to convince the electorate and earn the victory rather than getting caught trying to pinch the lolly.
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@kalamita. Sorry to burst your bubble but you must be one of those who perceived Dr. Debono as the messiah who will deliver the holy grail to the PL. So did Joseph Muscat, so you are in good company. But Dr. Debono’s agenda goes further than that and one doesn’t dispose of an evil and risk by replacing it with an unknown quantity. I can understand your frustration but a man of substance does not just transfer his favours from one party to the other. You may call Dr Debono whatever you want but he is certainly not a PL stooge and definitely not a PN yes man either. The PL Leader has learnt his lesson and if he intends to win the next election, he should use the time to convince the electorate and earn the victory rather than getting caught trying to pinch the lolly.
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Ironic....Lou Bondi' dealt Dr Mallia with a hearty welcome in his first TV experience as a PL spokesman. Naturally, the wits and finesse of Dr Mallia prevailed. Then a few moments later we were forced to experience a foolish and silly ping pong display by Chris Said and Lou Bondi. Chris....can you please give a plain and simple reply to Lou's simple question? Does the PN enjoy a majority in our Parliament without the need of Speaker's life ring?
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Joseph Sant •
Mr Antoine Vella - it seems Mintoff and Mintoffiani have become the flavour of the month for you and your confidante DCG.... unless you are DCG of course. :D
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Franco Debono has shown that he lost his mettle at the end. The PN knew all along he was a parlatore but little substance, hence their stand. It seems the insults directed towards his sanity were well directed. Thank you Franco for putting our country in an even worse state then your good clique friends did. You are just as bad, or even worse, since you alleged a lot and yet were left defeated and shamed. A man of principles....ha ha joke of the year. PN rules and you must abide or else just shut up
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Is it brave face that is keeping Gonzi aloof from the disaster of yesterday, or is just undemocratic arrogance ? Who needs Mintoff with GONZIpN AT CASTILLE?
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Hi Jgalea, what is pathetic is your solemn belief that you and your shattered party have some divine right to rule this country. I truly hope you never abandon this creed.
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Dear James,how can you in one breadth say that the Opposition has "egg on its face", and that "the government is on life-support"? What and who exposed the fact that the government is being kept alive by machine? It was the Opposition which revealed that the Emperor has no clothes by calling the vote of confidence, and in that way making the numbers clear: the government does not enjoy a majority of 35 seats. Now it's number, not just talk. And you call this "egg on the face"? It was the PN spin machine which tried to spin this no-confidence bid as a "bid for power" by Muscat, when everyone knows that Muscat can only win power in a general election. It seems, dear James, that even highly intelligent people like you, easily fall prey to the PN spin and let it dictate their vision of events.
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The outcome of yesterday's vote shows how sensible Government was to adopt a go-slow tactic and give itself time to partially close the rift with Franco Debono. Mintoffians have a habit of underestimating Gonzi. I believe the defeat of the no-confidence vote will prove to be a turning-point in the electoral fortunes of the two main parties.
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Franco is like the rest of those pn MPs , lot of talk but when it comes to the crunch they are but puppets on a string.
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As you have rightly suggested, the PN government is badly if not fatally wounded. There is also little doubt that the LP did not attain the best result possible (passage of a vote of no confidence). It did,however,force the Speaker to have to cast his vote to 'save' the government. Felling a tree takes some time and Muscat should be very happy if not delirious with the result. I am sure the speeches in parliament would make interesting reading for anyone working on the PL's election strategy. The PN was in a no-win situation. Even if the vote of no confidence had obtained majority support, there would still have been the history of animosity between PN deputies which is now on public record. A divided party can never survive. If the PN were to survive, both Gonzi and Debono would have to leave the political scene ... and there would be no certainty in that course of action.
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As you have rightly suggested, the PN government is badly if not fatally wounded. There is also little doubt that the LP did not attain the best result possible (passage of a vote of no confidence). It did,however,force the Speaker to have to cast his vote to 'save' the government. Felling a tree takes some time and Muscat should be very happy if not delirious with the result. I am sure the speeches in parliament would make interesting reading for anyone working on the PL's election strategy. The PN was in a no-win situation. Even if the vote of no confidence had obtained majority support, there would still have been the history of animosity between PN deputies which is now on public record. A divided party can never survive. If the PN were to survive, both Gonzi and Debono would have to leave the political scene ... and there would be no certainty in that course of action.
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@Mr Privitera. It's pretty obvious that Joseph Muscat's sole intention was to win this no confidence vote, no more and no less. The PL has already 'proven' this government's instability when it took the speakers vote to save the neck of the Transport Minister in the previous no-confidence vote, so why repeat the circus. This time Mr Muscat tried to go for the jugular and paid the price for wanting too much too soon. Result, a bout of indigestion and an experience richer.
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Sorry James, Dr. Muscat, rather than leading the PL " into a wall " as you wrote, he gave the best proof of what he has been saying for so long - that Lawrence Gonzi is leading an unstable government. Today he went one better, Dr. Muscat proved that Dr. Gonzi does not have the support of the majority of MPs ! So where is the "egg" in Dr. Muscat's face, James ?? Eddy Privitera
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If you read what I wrote you would have understood that I am no fool and will not allow anyone, including yourself to take me for a ride. The problem with you and a number of others that have embraced the GonziPN crusade, is that you are so detached from reality that you don't even see the beam in your eyes. You're blinded with rhetoric and think that even if today GonziPN lost its majority in parliament, it is as if you have won some kind of battle. Well, let me tell you, this is not a situation which a truly democratic PM could live with. If you're thinking otherwise then you're in denial. In the near future the PM will be forced to go to the polls. It is at that point that we will know who has been really listening to the people and who has been living in cuckoo's land.
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James Grech, when will you open your eyes? They (Joseph Muscat and certain sections of the media) led you to believe that the Government would fall today. FALSE. They told you that GonziPN was in total disarray and divided within itself. FALSE They continue to play with you, dangling false hopes. Wake up, man.
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Some considerations after today's vote of no-confidence. It seems, but I stand to be corrected, that for a vote of confidence or no-confidence to pass, there has to be a majority of parliament members that vote in favour. In this case the vote of no-confidence did not pass since Government and Opposition got the same number of votes. Some are saying that the Speaker's vote was superfluous. In any case, since the number of votes was the same: Government does not has a majority in parliament anymore. The situation is however still legal, cause only if Government got one vote less then the opposition (out of the total majority in parliament) would the vote of no confidence pass. The worrying part behind all this is that since Franco has already hung this parliament, it would not be a surprise if he does it again. He is being reported on this same newspaper as saying that he will not be appeased. Thus his vote is evermore crucial for this government to perform independently of the speaker. The latter is baring a huge responsibility, since it is by his vote that the PM could say that he would continue to work.
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"So why not grab this opportunity and enact these crucial reforms before the inevitable election?" Does anyone really believe that Gonzi wants to enact the law about party financing?
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@Antoine Vella & Co Why don't you read what Dr.Debono is being reported to have said to MT just now: http://maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Franco-says-he-s-not-going-to-be-appeased-MP-s-friend-20120126
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Gonzi is at the Intensive Therapy Unit, fighting to save his moribund Government! As from now on, we will see who is on the good side of history, whether GonziPn is going to begin with the 'buzzullotti' that we had to endure in the 60s and in the 80s; its time for Gonzi to be counted.Anything else beside immediate elections will simply mean that all the fracas of the 80s were just crocodile tears, and that the real reason for the protests were just a camouflage to win power at all cost!
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@James Grech. James Debono got it spot on this time. Joseph Muscat’s decision to call for a non confidence vote was premature and reflects his immaturity in politics. Undoubtedly he was hoping to pull off a coup but all for the wrong reasons ( a capital foul in politics ). The PN has a serious internal strife going on and the PL should have just stood back and let the drama take its course. With the PL turning up the heat, the antagonists have simply backed off momentarily to fend off the attack from outside. I was just wondering who has been advising Mr Muscat on such matters and whether the strategy to let the PL leader decide the course of action, just a ploy that backfired or else purposely intended to give him a bloody nose ( apart from the egg in the face, of course ).
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@James Grech. James Debono got it spot on this time. Joseph Muscat’s decision to call for a non confidence vote was premature and reflects his immaturity in politics. Undoubtedly he was hoping to pull off a coup but all for the wrong reasons ( a capital foul in politics ). The PN has a serious internal strife going on and the PL should have just stood back and let the drama take its course. With the PL turning up the heat, the antagonists have simply backed off momentarily to fend off the attack from outside. I was just wondering who has been advising Mr Muscat on such matters and whether the strategy to let the PL leader decide the course of action, just a ploy that backfired or else purposely intended to give him a bloody nose ( apart from the egg in the face, of course ).
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Since Joseph Muscat became Labour Leader, he and his aides have been incessantly spreading rumours about early elections. Three or four times a year we keep hearing that Parliament is going to be dissolved. Well, it hasn't happened and Government has worked assiduously and efficiently for the country's benefit. Only the most blinkered and unreasonable Mintoffian will deny that much has been carried out in education, health, the economy, the environment and other sectors. Not every initiative was as successful as it deserved to be but anyone claiming that the country is in dire straits is totally cut off from reality.
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@Vella To be fair, one should highlight the fact that Joseph Muscat is his own man, like Franco, for that matter, and unlike Dr. Gonzi, who has once again demonstrated his reluctance (or impossibility) to give stability to this country, since his judgement is obfuscated with interferences from the clique that Franco has long been voicing about. Do you form part of this clique Mr Vella?
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I think the only one who will end up with egg in his face is Franco Debono. Joseph Muscat has exposed the Gonzi Government's numerical deficit, Gonzi has got a brief respite from facing an irate electorate, and Franco?? Zilch!!!
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James, James, James, your articles get stupider by the day. Please respect the fact some of us have brain, can count, think and know that you are not independent but the mouthpiece of a dead party...you mildly entertain with your gobbledygook but i really don't know why you are at MT? I would try somewhere else...and soon.
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Jgalea imma kemm tiflah tkun injorant. Mela int tippreferi prim ministru li min wara darek jiehu 500 ewro fil gimgha min prim ministru onest u ragel ghax kieku mhux ragel kien jghamel bhal ma kien ghamel Eddie u ma jidholx il parlament.Din hija listess sitwazzjoni il MLP ma kellux maggoranz tan nies u il PN illum ma ghandux maggoranza ta deputati. U idahhalx lil Alla fin nofs ghax ikun hawn min jizbalja. Jaqaw qieghed tahseb li Gonzi u Mose'
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Yes todays vote on paper might might seem to be a defeat of this motion, but this was not a bid or a lottery draw. The country is Not for CPR, a medical term, that means no chance to improve, terminally ill, no chance to survive. Gonzi is protacting his party and not the nation. This what I mean that the country is going to die, and for what! For Gonzi's party. Really unfair, but nothing to do unfortunatly this is MALTA. By the way probably I am not a Maltese citizen any more because my ID card has expired.
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To be fair to Joseph Muscat (listen to me), he was pushed into taking a gamble and hoping for the best. His original position seems to have been far more prudent and he even hinted that his supporters would not be pleased with the decisions that the party was going to take. Blinded by hatred for ConzPN and over-eager to gain power, the Party's Old Guard, representing traditional Labourites (many of whom comment on the pages of this website) forced Muscat's hand, with the result we all know. Who knows how much this mistake will cost the PL?
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Would you have preferred to wait for the PM to call a vote of confidence James? You're wrongly accusing Dr.Muscat of leading his party into a wall. Which wall, I ask? The fact remains that Dr. Muscat used his right, in the name of the Maltese people, to question Government's majority, given the vociferous claims made by Dr. Franco Debono. Dr. Muscat had both right and duty to call for such a vote, since government was dragging its feet when faced with a possible snap election. It is quite true that this Gov is now just hanging on, with either Franco and/or the Speaker keeping it in power. Power which the PM has shown over and over again, is very much reluctant to let go.
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One way is clear: How pathetic, and immature Muscat is. Way to GO Joe. Postok mhux il parlament. Postok tintervista lil xi hadd fuq xi sufan, jew gallerija. Halli ix xoghol serju ghal min jifem, u min hu kwalifikat alih. Prosit Dr. Gonzi. Alla mijek, u jmexxik dejjem. IS SEWWA JIRBAH ZGUR, u is sewwa huwa BISS il PN :)
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