[LIVE] Prime Minister's motion of confidence passes, Gonzi: ‘we’re sending a message of stability’

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READ MORE The Prime Minister's nine lives   •   Gonzi launches public transport task force •   Manuel Delia – PN says transport reform mastermind is not candidate   •   No room for Franco Debono in tonight’s confidence motion  •   The third vote of confidence by a post-war PM

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21:41 Motion of confidence passed, 35 votes in favour, 34 against.

21:39 Clerk of the House now calling out MPs' names for votes.

21:36 "I had suggested to the Prime Minister and the PN executive committee to call a motion of confidence in this government, and that I would vote for this motion. The Prime Minister said this vote should switch on a light-bulb... I say it should switch on two light-bulbs. Not just for us to be aware of the international situation, but for those of us who must be more diligent in implementing their policies better. This is a normal process for us MPs to debate such policies. And the Prime Minister has done his utmost to take charge of the matter at hand, having created a task force on public transport reform that unfortunately is now a responsibility for him to bear."

21:36 Nationalist MP Franco Debono addressing the House.

21:30 “The reason I am asking for the House’s vote of confidence is to send a message of stability to people out there; and because we are able to function well even with internal criticism; this is a stable majority that incentivises this government to move forwards... the Opposition leader thinks that I don’t know what is coming up in the next Budget – the results we have today, certified by credit rating agencies, are because we know what we are doing, because we are hands-on.”

21:26 “New businesses will have a constant supply of energy from a variety of options without depending on one supplier... it will be the first time Malta will have a cable connected to the European grid. And we might even have a gas pipeline to Europe, so that we can use this as fuel for the power station.”

21:22 “The challenge is not making sums for the next election... our challenge is to invest in the Delimara power station so that we can close down the Marsa power station.”

21:21 “On utility rates... how would people ever think of investing in solar panels if someone else was paying their utility bills? That is why we are investing in solar panel credits and other energy credits for people at risk of poverty [30,000-odd]... the problem of utility rates is not just restricted to families, but extends also to businesses who benefited from the same initiatives and other schemes such as micro-credit and micro-invest.”

21:14 “If I had to ask myself why I am asking for this House’s confidence in the government, it’s because there is an ocean separating the two sides...”

21:13 "We are building new schools every, a new MCAST campus, and an IT institute at the University... "

21:10 Lawrence Gonzi taking on Muscat’s point on credit ratings, citing last report from Standard and Poors: “Malta’s political and economic profiles feature stable political institutions, stable economic policy-making, that delivers effective public finances and stable GDP growth...”

21:07 “It is absolutely crucial now for our country to have stability, for foreign and Maltese investors to be sent a message of courage.”

21:05 "Joseph Muscat doesn't mention the opportunities that EU membership opened up for our youths..."

21:03 “Joseph Muscat forgot to mention his position against EU membership... if things have changed so radically in seven years, I have a list of Labour MPs who warned us it would be a mistake if became EU members.”

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi addresses House in winding-up speech.

21:01 “Today’s vote will pass, but the crisis will stay on” – concluding remarks.

20:58 “I am proud of the [Labour] decision [to decriminalise homosexuality] and who weren’t scared of being called ‘ultra-liberals’... I am proud they introduced civil marriage, against those critics who said Air Malta and Sea Malta would never work. Instead they have destroyed these companies and sold them off for nothing.”

20:53 “This government’s solution is the politics of fear... This parliament is neither Nationalist nor Labour, but the people’s... This tactic of fear only strengthens me, because it was the same tactic used when my predecessors wanted to introduce pensions for the elderly... when they introduced free healthcare.”

20:50 “This government boasts of the way our situation today is better off than that of other countries’... that invested millions in the safeguarding of jobs. And yet, even if it spent €25 million in saving these jobs, it’s still a quarter of what it is spending in the construction of a new parliament.”

20:47  "Today I see the clear symptoms of a government that is cut off from the reality of Maltese and Gozitan families; a government that, I admit, once had vision... but which is now trying to divide people where there is no division amongst it."

20:38  “What cabinet is this that needs a vote of confidence? Is it for the finance minister, who flies on jets, for his jobs for favours, for the disaster at Air Malta and Enemalta?... or for the lack of debate on an IVF law? There’s a wall of silence on the report that has the agreement of both sides of the House.”

20:37 Muscat is asking the government to answer on data from the Economist Intelligence Unit that Malta has been exporting more oil than it imports.

20:36  “We could have gone for a better technology that would have given lower utility rates [referring to Delimara power station extension].”

20:34 “It was the European Commissioner John Dalli who presented proposals to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi how the government had alternatives for a project to reduce utility rates...”

20:33 “We are waiting to give our proposals on utility rates because we are waiting to see what the international situation will be when we come to present them.”

20:31  “Today the prime minister said that had he not increased utility rates, there would have been no incentive for people to install solar panels on their roofs... what irresponsibility. An incentive is not putting a revolver to somebody’s head, but to help them take decisions that will truly help them move forward.”

20:30  “Austin Gatt had said that he would reduce utility rates if the price of oil went down... since then the price of oil has gone down, and the rates have just increased.”

20:28 “Gonzi said he would reduce income tax, notwithstanding the coming financial storm... now he says he could not foresee that that storm was going to be greater than he expected. Then he should just go ahead and reduce income tax even further. That promise was one he made solely for electoral purposes.”

20:25 “Tell us what new taxes you will present in the coming budget next week... because I am sure you don’t know what you will be doing next week.”

20:23 “For the prime minister, families can still take on the burden of more taxes; because pensioners are not protesting, there is no problem with their pensions. I though the prime minister would refer to his ‘hard’ decision where, after raising utility rates he awarded himself and ministers a €500 weekly salary raise.”

20:20 “The problem with this defective majority is the prime minister’s weak leadership... he didn’t have a majority on the vote of the St John’s cathedral; the 2005 budget vote which was saved with a casting vote; the right to legal aid during police interrogation; the ARMS motion we presented; the lack of a majority for the reform of the primary healthcare system, which has now been forgotten; the divorce law, that showed the lack of leadership of the prime minister; and now the public transport reform...”

20:20 “Together with government we contributed to an Ombudsman Act, common ground on the European bailout, to give aid to Air Malta without any procedural objections, to work with government on rent reform... we are not expecting any gratitude.”

20:16 Joseph Muscat "Austin Gatt is still politically responsible for public transport, but the prime minister is leading the task force... the prime minister has much more pressing issues to see to. Instead this prime minister did not even trust any other minister or MP to take care of this reform, and took it upon himself to manage the reform."

20:15 *** ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER SILVIO BERLUSCONI IS EXPECTED TO RESIGN ***

20:12 “The prime minister did not call this motion of confidence because of events in Italy or Greece... but because of his defective majority in the parliament.”

20:11  "The prime minister is not seeing the writing on the wall... his speech today was a surreal one, trying to hide what everybody else knows... he is a prime minister who has lost direction and is now taking decisions to take ownership of the failures of minister Austin Gatt. He has bound the government and the country's stability to one minister."

20:08 "Today this House will pass this motion of confidence, but the government's crisis will still be there. I am frankly disappointed by the speech of the deputy prime minister... who talks about the past because there is nothing to say about this country's future."

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat addressing the House.

20:07 “We want this vote of confidence not only because the people’s will expressed in the 2008 election has to be respected, but because this government deserves this House’s trust.”

20:02  "This government has enacted many reforms throughout the year: rent reform was one such reform. What has Labour done over rent reform? You requisitioned private homes to turn into Labour party clubs."

19:59 "From the start of the Libyan conflict, the Prime Minister instantly said that this was the beginning of the end for Gaddafi's regime... he did not sit on the fence; he made it clear we would not be taking part in any military adventure... and we still managed to earn the respect of the international community."

19:55  Tonio Borg extols Guido de Marco’s achievements in reforming the police corps: “Back in your day somebody walking in to the police station would not emerge alive from it.”

19:54  “When Labour was in power, you eroded police officers’ pensions...”

19:53  Tonio Borg is listing a veritable list of public policy achievements in the fields of education and health.

19:47 “This year we voted a 45% increase in the Malta Tourism Authority’s budget to €35 million... and we had a record year of tourism this year. The figures show a 6.6% increase over the past year in tourism arrivals. We have become experts in breaking our own records. Tourists on average spent €81 million more than last year, and it seems like we are about to break the record on cruise liner passenger arrivals.”

19:45 “Farrugia mentioned the shipyards. The Maltese taxpayer was paying an average of €25 million a year since the 1960s before the shipyards were privatised, meaning that now taxpayers are not subsidising this operation any longer.”

19:41 “I am proud to defend our record. Who was the prime minister who saw Malta experiencing a 3% economic growth, over and above that of France and Italy? Malta has an unemployment rate of 6.3%, the fifth lowest in the EU [ninth in the eurozone]... the number of gainful employed increased by 3,180, mainly within the private sector. If this means we are losing control and direction, then we should be losing it every day.”

19:40  “Farrugia said our government lost our direction...” Tonio Borg is teasing Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca: “What’s wrong now, Hon. Coleiro?”

19:38 “How can you say we rule against the will of the majority when your government had brought us to the brink of civil war? [refers to 1980s instances of government excesses].”

19:37 Deputy prime minister Tonio Borg addressing the House, with quips about "lack of substance" in Farrugia's address.

19:36 Anglu Farrugia terminates his address with a quote from Benjamin Whichcote, a provost of King's College, Cambridge.

19:31  “Gonzi would be politically incorrect to say that we are opposing everything the government does. We are determined to build upon the good that has been made... but as to what is wrong, what has really hurt the people, and what the people don’t want, we will be a responsible government.”

19:31  “Gonzi would be incorrect, politically, to say that we are opposing everything the government does. We are determined to build upon the good that has been made... but as to what is wrong, what has really hurt the people, and what the people don’t want, we will be a responsible government.”

19:31 Anglu Farrugia "The Prime Minister boats of having a strong pair of hands... but he has kid gloves for his ministers... "

19:27 From the twitterfeed     AlxMalta Anglu Farrugia sounds like Super One - conjecture and allusions only. No facts. #lawrencegonzi

19:24  Anglu Farrugia is saying that Nazzareno Vassallo, of Vassallo Builders Group (the subcontractor for BWSC that is constructing the Delimara power station extension) built the new studio set for TVAM, the new PBS breakfast news programme for the sum of €79,000. "See how helpful the Yellow Pages are?" [reference to the BWSC middleman Joe Mizzi's claim that he found the Vassallo group from the Yellow Pages.]

19:21 “Weren’t you the prime minister responsible during the privatisation of the yacht marinas, where the whiff of corruption has led to a police investigation after Finance Minister Tonio Fenech chose to do nothing about those allegations?”

19:19 “The sale of the Maltacom land in Qawra, worth millions, [that was sold to Tecom]... also happened under Austin Gatt. You, prime minister, are protecting him.”

19:16  Anglu Farrugia on the Fairmount contract: “Gonzi was also the prime minister during the Fairmount scandal, which prompted the bankruptcy of our shipyards, after you sent the yard workers a letter before the 2008 election that they would keep their jobs and yet they ended up without a job; what about the state of Air Malta, the privatisation of a Maltese investment such as the MIA that now has us begging for concessions...”

From parliament,       ksnavarra tweets that the request for live TV broadcast of #lawrencegonzi debate was reportedly turned down

19:10 “This prime minister said he wants to be judged by his actions... but last week it was his MP who told him that things were not going on well.”

19:09  "This is a very rare motion... this takes place after a motion of no confidence in one of Gonzi's ministers, the man who emerged triumphantly from parliament to cheers."

19:08 "Today we are witnessing another show-stealer to see Lawrence Gonzi's government hang on to power."

19:06 “Arriva is renting some 30 coaches, paid by Transport Malta, to be able to make up for the shortcomings of its service... this costs something like €3 million. This is what people want to know about, not the amount of solar panels on our roofs or what is happening inside Tunisia.”

19:05 “Lawrence Gonzi is only thirsty for power and interested in protecting the people close to him...”

19:02  “After the vote of no confidence against Austin Gatt, the prime minister felt a pang of conscience and created a task force on public transport, effectively saying he has no trust in minister Austin Gatt. If you felt you needed a task force today, then the backbencher who abstained on the motion of no confidence last week was truly reflecting the people’s concerns.”

19:00 “A small number of people are taking decisions and implementing strategies, dictating the lives of our citizens and playing around with our quality and standard of living.  It is a government that is hanging on to power and a weak prime minister who is looking for a vote of confidence from his own MPs. So I ask the prime minister: whose interests are you protecting?”

18:59 “Not only was it an abstention on public transport reform... there was criticism of national broadcasting, and this was criticism of an unstable government. This is a government that has lost all sense of direction. This government is like an oligarchy, the rule of the few, a situation of a liberal democracy that does not respect the will of the majority.”

18:58  “We are here because last week a government MP abstained on the Opposition motion on the mess that was the public transport reform delivered by Austin Gatt.”

18:57 “The Prime Minister is obliging MPs to give him confidence after the Speaker of this House has to use his casting vote to save the government against a motion of no confidence in his transport minister and the public transport failure.”

18:56  “The Prime Minister today is asking for a vote of confidence because this government does not have security... this government is looking for security.”

Labour deputy leader for parliamentary affairs Anglu Farrugia addressing the House.

18:54 “What we offer that is different from the Opposition is a clear, sincere and realistic policy over the populist one that the Opposition is offering.”

18:52 “Oil is predicted to go up to $130 a barrels as problems with Iran ensue... how can the Opposition leader have a magic wand to ward away circumstances beyond our control?”

18:50  "Under Labour's former leader, surrounded by his so called experts, a new taxation system was introduced to replace VAT and delivered a more expensive system of taxation... it was the most stupid form of taxation ever invented, just to fulfil a populist electoral pledge that only served to edge the country close to the edge of a cliff."

18:49 “All the Opposition knows is to rub its hands when it sees the government flounder and just wait for the general elections.”

18:47  "The Opposition says it will reduce utility rates but it is scared to explain how. The Opposition knows that it has to pay for reduced utility rates, and the result of that would be to increase the deficit. Because this is not a one-off subsidy, but an annual appointment. If you don't have a solution for this, the only consequence is increasing the deficit... increasing taxation to recoup what it loses from one end. They have no idea of what to do. We've already passed through the same experience in 1996 when the Opposition removed VAT and replaced it with a worse system."

18:46 “The Opposition has been saying ‘no’ to everything we’ve been doing. Had it been for the Opposition we would have kept utility rates low with consequences such as increased taxation and a higher decision... even our decision on the Delimara power station extension was opposed by the Opposition.”

18:45 “Hasn’t it been an opportunity for domestic and commercial users to produce their own energy using solar panels?”

18:44 “Had we kept energy rates low how could we ever incentivise people to invest in their own energy production or energy saving methods?”

18:42 “We took the decision to increase the supply of energy from the Delimara power station... had a different decision been taken, the impact of the extension of the power station would have been enormous. We invested in a cable to connect to the European power grid that will allow us to buy electricity from the European market that will be far more competitive than what we have today in Malta. It will allow us to close down the Marsa power station once and for all, a decision that will improve the quality of life for harbour towns and Marsa residents.”

18:39 “The Opposition leader dared suggest we should follow Cyprus’s example... and yet does he know what financial trouble Cyprus finds itself in at the moment?”

18:37 “The most controversial and difficult decision we had to take was on energy and the utility rates... in the 2008 electoral campaign the price of oil was already as high as $70 a barrel. That same summer it reached record levels of almost $150 a barrel... we hiked the rates to be able to carry the price of oil. If we hadn’t done that, we would have had great problems in public spending and raised our deficit to alarming levels, endangering the economy.”

18:35 “The financial storm affected all countries, but our country could ride the wave because of its strong leadership. And I pledged to make my best to see our country sail through the storm... we want to take on these challenges and turn them into opportunities.”

18:34  “Yes I do apologise again for the service delivered so far... that is why I created a task force today to handle the service.”

18:33  “This government’s policies has determined that Maltese and Gozitan citizens feel the least of the effects of this global turmoil... the last protest was not by demonstrators who had lost jobs, of parents who cannot pay for their children’s education, pensioners whose pension was cut, elderly who did not have free healthcare... but by demonstrators against the new public transport service.”

18:31 “We saw the fall of Tunisian president Ben Ali and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and the macabre death of Muammar Gaddafi... who would have predicted all this in January 2011? There were cynical observers like Opposition leader Joseph Muscat who said we should capitalise on this turmoil to publicise Malta as a tourist destination. That was a great flip-flop that resulted in a national embarrassment on the international stage for Malta.”

18:28 “As high as the political price might be, God forbid that the same would happen in Malta... we take no masochist pleasure in taking hard decisions. A responsible person shoulders the burden of tough decisions.”

18:25 “TheOccupy Wall Street protests are a phenomenon that are redefining the way governments work... the Indignados in Spain have spread to thousands of protests. The British riots saw youths and children breaking shop windows to take what they felt was theirs... and in Greece we have seen the rebellion of a people that grew accustomed to something it did not afford.”

18:23 “After the massive interventions in 2009 and 2010 to save the thousands of jobs of workers, we paid a price. This House knows that in 2009 the previous year’s deficit had escalated to 4% of GDP, when we were actually moving towards a surplus... we had to revise our budgetary estimates, and yet while our economy was showing signs that it was recovering... certified by the European Commission and credit rating agencies... it resulted that the storm had moved over from the financial institutions and into [sovereign countries].”

18:20 “We are not scared of this storm... we are the party that never mocked our countrymen as ‘small fry’ [makku – citing Alfred Sant]. We are today reasserting the trust we have in this country’s people.”

18:18 “In the past three and a half years, events unfolded that nobody could have expected... I can say that if I committed a mistake in the last election, hand on heart, it was that while I predicted the storm ahead I could not predict the way it overtook events in the United States of America and the European Union. Nobody expected the worst ever financial crisis in the past 100 years... otherwise, a perfect storm.”

18:16 “There are those who dare not speak of our progress... because they would understand the great difference between Malta and the events taking place in other countries... otherwise people would understand that this present government is actually governing well.”

18:15 “In a time of great uncertainty, our people deserve to know where it stands with the government, to have a stable government on which it can put its mind at rest... I present this motion with a great sense of the role I occupy because I am not about to leave any doubts over the stability of my government.”

18:12  "It is crystal clear that the instability we are surrounded with in Europe and the Arab world... informs us with the responsibility we carry. A wrong decision imperils our present and the future of our families, workers, youths and the elderly. It is the time for us to turn to the House and ask it for its confidence in our government. This is not a symbolic or cosmetic gesture..."

18:11 Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi presents the motion of confidence in the government.