Debono plus, Bondì minus

Additional reporting by Jurgen Balzan

If Lou Bondì thought the 37-year-old maverick lawyer from Ghaxaq would be a push-over on his bi-weekly TV discussion show last night, he soon found he had another guess coming.

Apparently unfazed by a joint-party statement simultaneously calling for his own resignation, a spirited Franco Debono held his own against a often openly hostile Lou Bondì: who on his part made even less of a secret than usual of his intention to discredit the troublesome Nationalist backbencher.

Faced with numerous clips of his own recent former TV appearances, Debono for most of the time seemed to always have an answer up his sleeve... to the point that an exasperated Bondì seemed to not even realise when his show came to an end at 10:30pm. 

The war of words between the two lasted for the whole programme and at one point Debono even informed his host that he "is getting old" and would not be prompted to "repeat words like a parrot".

Bondpilus started off with a clip of TVM's news editor Natalino Fenech, who said the national broadcaster had been patient enough with Debono and his declarations on PBS. Fenech accused Debono of seeking the limelight by constantly "asking journalists and cameramen to get him on the news".

Fenech added that when he worked as a court reporter for The Times, Debono would ask him to name him "even when he (Debono) was not even present in the court room". Fenech said TVM never ignores anyone and includes everybody in its reports. 

Debono denied ever asking to be mentioned when he was not present in court or when he did not deserve to be mentioned. He however took the opportunity to reiterate a litany of accusations against the national broadcaster's head of news, who he said failed to mention him purposely on a number of times in an attempt to discredit him.

Bondì continuously tried to unsettle the backbencher with interruptions and quips; but Debono proved to be better at repartee than Bondì evidently expected, and hit back with equally biting remarks.

For instance, Debono hit back at repeated insinuations that his outburst was motivated by personal ambition, and also that he was not a 'team player', by accusing Gonzi of not making the best use of his 'reserves'. Utilising the same metaphor first coined by Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg - who likened Lawrence Gonzi to the "coach" of a football team, he retorted that Gonzi "had not made the right substitutions".  

He added that in any team, "the coach is not a deity" and that "the supporters are as important as the players and the coach".

Continuing with the football metaphor, Debono said the "team is also made up of the substitutes" - a clear reference to Gonzi's decision to ignore backbenchers, and stick with ministers who "did not score a goal in four years".

"To introduce a diluted justice reform, I had to abstain from voting. That is the only language Gonzi understands," he said.

Debono repeated his declarations that Gonzi is "held hostage by a clique" and said that all the prime minister's decisions are taken by "the same two or three persons around the Prime Minister".

Asked who made up this clique, Debono told Bondì should use his 'journalism about everything' skills and investigate and find out for himself.

In a barrage of loquacity that occasionally bordered on the hyperactive, Debono constantly accused Bondì of shying from asking hard questions to Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici when he had him as a guest on his show. "Why did you not ask him why Abraham Zammit was acting director of prison for three years?"

When confronted with the fact that a petition asking for his resignation was doing the rounds, Debono said he does not give petitions much weight and in a snide remark to Lawrence Gonzi he said "some persons ignored a referendum so why should I take heed of a petition?"

Debono said he never intended to make a career out of politics because he deemed politics "a service."