Former MP disassociates himself from PN’s ‘contemporary modus operandi’
Loyal backbencher Jean-Pierre Farrugia says Lawrence Gonzi had ignored his 2010 warnings.
Former Nationalist MP Jean-Pierre Farrugia, who failed to be re-elected on the first district, has announced his withdrawal from active politics on his Facebook profile.
But his parting shot is an email he published today on Facebook, which he had sent to Gonzi in 2010. The message had been leaked to the press and published by MaltaToday by MPs copied in the email, which warning Farrugia today claimed should have been heeded in a bid to save the PN from the humiliating defeat in which 30,000 voters swayed to Labour.
"Today the contents of this email do me the greatest honour... had my voice been heard, we would have at least gone into Opposition with dignity."
In the email, Farrugia had warned Gonzi that: "losing heavily at the polls in three years could result in serious infighting leaving the PN in shambles. This happened in Italy and as I see it there is nothing to stop it from happening to us. Your responsibility does not stop at the state. Nor at this generation. You need a stronger team around you to start picking up the pieces immediately, re-strengthening our roots and outreaching to rebuild again."
Farrugia said his email had been leaked to the press, and that he taken umbrage at the fact that no disciplinary measures had been taken by the party.
In his Facebook message, Farrugia also said that he could not identify himself with the PN's "contemporary modus operandi" while stating that he had "no difficulty in identifying with the PN's glorious past."
"[The PN's] contemporary modus operandi extinguished all my will to keep struggling for equity so that nobody gets left behind."
Farrugia, a family doctor, also said that he would be dedicating himself to his profession and family.
Jean-Pierre Farrugia had broken ranks with the majority of MPs who were to pocket a substantial €7,000 increase in their honoraria, by announcing he will donate the salary raise to the Stefano Borgonovo Foundation for research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a condition from which his wife suffers.
Farrugia had also said it was a shame for 'GonziPN' to approve a €500 increase per week in salary.