Placing the national interest last

As the country endures yet another wave of often astonishing outbursts and unsightly quibbles in parliament, one cannot help but note that the words "national interest" no longer seem to feature anywhere on the political agenda.

Perhaps our politicians have come round to understanding that the national interest cannot possibly be served by a government which seeks only to cling onto power without a parliamentary majority; or by an opposition whose only interest is to destabilise government for its own gain.

Or perhaps (more likely) parliamentarians on either side of the House have simply forgotten what it was that they had been voted into parliament to defend in the first place, and are now too far embroiled in petty one-upmanship to even remember they are supposed to have responsibilities towards the electorate.

Either way, it is now abundantly clear that the main protagonists in this affair are acting purely and exclusively in their own personal/political interests. Let us start with Dr Franco Debono, whose often hyperactive antics have been the single main catalyst for the prevailing status quo.

This newspaper has time and again asserted that many of Debono's original points (some of which seem to have meanwhile slipped off the radar) were both reasonable and important for the country. Yet the failure of the present administration to implement much of its own programme cannot, on its own, justify the sheer extent to which the backbencher has now taken his personal spat with Lawrence Gonzi.

By threatening endlessly to withhold support from government, while simultaneously passing up repeated opportunities to live up to this threat, Debono has achieved nothing but a protracted continuation of the very scenario he claims he wishes to end. Nor is it an excuse that he wishes to avoid 'blame' for pulling the plug on the entire administration.

If all along he had no intention of doing precisely that, then he has wasted the country's time and been directly responsible for at least part of the same government's inability to perform for almost a year. All this has had, and continues to have many far-reaching consequences for a country which is now denied the opportunity to even make plans for the immediate future: a future held to ransom by Debono, who ironically claims to represent the public while also working to deprive the same public of its own peace of mind.

In similar vein, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi cannot keep up the pretence that he himself bears no responsibility for the present state of uncertainty gripping the country.  Gonzi owes it to the electorate to lay down a very clear schedule for the next few months - starting with the date of the next election, which cannot be protracted any further without further undermining public faith in the system as a whole. Technically, he should have reconsidered his position as both party leader and Prime Minister just over a year ago - when it first became apparent that he had lost the trust of the electorate by opposing divorce so peremptorily, ahead of a referendum he would go on to lose (and, to add to the insult, to also ignore the result afterwards).

Gonzi has since lost more than just a referendum; he has also emphatically lost the support of two of his parliamentary colleagues, when he only had a one-seat majority to start with. The sooner he realizes that it is now imperative for political stability to be restored (with or without Gonzi at the helm), the better for all concerned.

Elsewhere, the defiant posture struck by Transport Minister Austin Gatt almost beggars belief - as does his astonishing 'ultimatum' that he would quit Cabinet only if both Debono and independent MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando relinquish their parliamentary seats. The implications are grave, and border on open contempt for parliament.

Perhaps Dr Gatt needs reminding that seats are allotted directly by the electorate, and can therefore only be withdrawn by the same electorate. Or perhaps he really has come round to viewing himself as being somehow above the accepted norms of democracy... in which case, he himself can be seen to represent a direct threat to the national interest.

Likewise, Pullicino Orlando ought to make his intentions clear. His claim to be part of a 'coalition' with Gonzi now rings particularly hollow, in view of the fact that he has overstepped the parameters that defined this precarious 'coalition' to begin with. The argument that he would support the government to implement its electoral programme, and expect consultation on other matters, now sounds rather unconvincing - seeing as he has taken his personal antagonism towards Gatt far beyond the terms of this already shaky arrangement.

This charade has now gone on long enough - indeed, it has overstayed its welcome for several months. The electorate deserves more mature representation in parliament; and even more urgently, the general public needs to be allowed to get on with its own affairs without being drowned out at every turn by a cacophony of screeching MPs.

Only one option can now rid us of this uncertainty and restore public faith in a parliament which no longer seems to deserve any. The prime minister knows well what this option is.