Bondì riled by Debono no-show on PBS

Bondì’s invitation to Franco Debono to participate in a recorded videoclip went unanswered by the MP, who says he will abstain on the Labour motion tomorrow.

Bondì, a cousin to minister Austin Gatt, will be discussing tomorrow’s motion on public transport reform, a plan which had to be radically redesigned according to Arriva Malta chief executive David Martin. Its chief architect, Gatt’s head of secretariat Manuel Delia, had his political candidature on the fifth district publicly endorsed by Bondì.

Taking potshots at Debono – whose home constituency is the fifth district – Bondì commented that while the MP’s vote would determine the stability of government tomorrow “[he] still finds time to chat with his facebook friends,” referring to one of Debono’s status updates.

“It is curious that Franco Debono claims to have ‘suffered under labour’. In 1987, Debono was 12 years old. Even more curious is his claim that he ‘suffered’ under the the PN. What sort of suffering is he talking about?

“The suffering of being made the prime minister’s own Parliamentary Assistant perhaps? The suffering of being included in prime ministerial delegations abroad? The suffering of calling the PN’s executive meetings at whim? The suffering of haranguing his party and parliamentary colleague Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici in court? The suffering of being Cyrus Engerer’s lawyer in his case against government? The suffering of having the prime minister giving him carte blanche to draft the legislation he likes?

“Now where did I leave my copy of ‘We are the world’? I need to play it today.”

Complaints by Labour over the presenter’s personal blogs have already attracted concern from the Broadcasting Authority, which in a letter to PBS last week said there was a “lack of adherence of some provisions” of the code of standards, and asked the station whether it took action on Labour’s complaints on Bondì and shortcomings on matters of impartiality.