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'No' turns into 'yes' as Gonzi announces he is 'ready to debate motion next week'
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has dramatically changed a position taken earlier yesterday by his Deputy Tonio Borg who was adamant not to accept a debate next week on Labour’s motion that calls for a referendum on divorce, and announced last night that he is “ready” to hold the debate “next week.”
In a statement issued by the Nationalist Party, it was explained that the Prime Minister will be consulting his Parliamentary Group.
The issue was a tough nut to crack throughout the day as government and opposition MPs locked horns on a date for the debate, first within the House Business Committee, then within the plenary of the House.
Speaker Michael Frendo, twice turned down a request by the Opposition for Parliament to have the motion discussed tomorrow, triggering an uproar in Parliament and Opposition Whip Joe Mizzi stressing that he was going to contest the “partisan” ruling.
Frendo rejected Opposition calls on points of order and immediately asked the Leader of the House to move the adjournment to next Monday.
Meanwhile, Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said he was backing the Opposition motion and agreed with the referendum question as proposed, and warned Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg that he will not accept any changes to the question to be put to the electorate in a referendum, as spelt out in the Opposition’s motion.
Pullicino Orlando said that during last Saturday’s PN Executive Committe meeting, the Prime Minister Gonzi had specifically said that the question must be based on the Bill before the House, and added tha, “thatt was what the motion promote.”.
The afternoon’s impasse led to the Prime Minister summon Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat for an urgent meeting in his office, where he proposed that the referendum question to the electorate be brought down to a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
Muscat however stuck to the question proposed by the Labour Parliamentary Group on Monday, based on the Bill currently before the House.
Reacxting to the day’s events, Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said that he had declared his backing for the Opposition motion because it reflected the contents of the bill he had co-sponsored and because the people were eager to see progress on this issue.
Speaking to MaltaToday Pullicino Orlando said that “despite the Prime Minister’s insistence that the debate on divorce be held as soon as possible ‘in the national interest’, it is debatable whether this procrastination is in the national interest.”
In reaction to the day’s events, the Labour Party said in a statement that yesterday's parliamentary sitting had confirmed that the motion it had presented for the holding of a referendum had the support of the majority in the House.
The PL accused the Prime Minister of resorting to “delaying tactics” to avoid at all costs a vote in the House which would have spelt a defeat to his position.
It added that the Prime Minister “relied on the Speaker's rulings to stop the debate which, clearly, the majority of MPs wanted.”
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He should consider changing his name to revolving Gonzi as he's always good for a turn!
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Dr Gonzi is fast becoming the master of U-turns!
Wouldn't it be better for him to blow the whistle to save face? Having said that I know the answer to my question i.e. he will do anything possible to hang on to power!
Keith Goodlip •
To think that this yes/no man is a part of running the country. Scary isn't it.
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kompli sejjer ek gonzi ghax tpaxini qijad bil kumidja.
it taf kemm kona najdu cajt fuq alfred sant li u intamat imma issa fuqek listes kliem qedin jajdu kumidjant.
kompli uza il knisja u linsara ghax dak li fadalek go halqek
Christopher Briffa •
Gonzi has lost the plot completely.
This term by Gonzi reminds me very much of Alfred Sant's stint at the helm of government between 96-98. Back then Sant promised a lot of things before the election which he knew he was not ready or not able to deliver on, same goes with Gonzi in 2008. After having won the election total chaos ensued for both men.
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Are we seeing the metamorphoses of the' par idejn sodi' to a man of straw?
Pauline Moran •
...Issa kif tistordi taghmel il U-TURNS ghajjat Elezzjoni Wenz, u kif tisma ir rizultat ta' l-Elezzjoni dur l-ahhar dawra fuq "shabek" u ghidilhom "Cemplu lil tal fjuri, ghax funeral ghandna, bl-erghuq u xniexel. Cari Saluti PN!".
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Josef the parliament is a joke.
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Issa qed jghamel is-sens ghaliex Gonzi bilfors ried il-parlament hdejn it-tijatru.
U biex ikun cert li jarah kullhadd it-tijatru se jkollu hitan tal-hgieg u bla saqaf!
Luke Camilleri •
Gonzi & Gonzi EUROpeanVISION hit;
- On Again... Off Again
on referendums! When enough is not enough for JPO - who is certainly getting his own back , his way on Pre-Electoral Gonzi!
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In a Parliamentary democracy, it is Parliament that decides and not the Parliamentary Group. If the Prime Minister does not have enough parliamentary seats to sustain him, Governmnet has to resign. What we are witnessing is just a the agony of a moribond government: of course Gonzi wants to hold on to his seat at all costs, even if it means creating instability, whilstmaking Malta a laughing stock throughout Europe. Dr Gonzi is afraid of the day of reckoning, afraid to face reality. Let the people decide.
Luke Camilleri •
A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him.
He asked, "What are all those clocks?" St. Peter answered, "Those are
Lie-Clocks. Everyone on Earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie, the
hands on your clock will move."
"Oh," said the man, "whose clock is that?"
"That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved, indicating that
she never told a lie."
"Incredible," said the man. "And whose clock is that one?"
St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have
moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life."
"Where's Gonzi clock?" asked the man.
"Gonzi's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."
Joseph Sant •
Apparently the mediator mission was an epic fail. JPO was not for turning so the PM goes on another merry-go round. Which number U-turn is this - I've honestly lost count.
Anette B Cassar •
U-Turn Ohra din Wenz
Isabelle Borg •
HAHAHA. Komplu waqaw il-parlament ghac-cajt mad-dinja.
