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Updated | Muscat demands 'clear, realistic' time-frame on no-confidence motion
Opposition expected to limit speakers for no-confidence motion to hasten debate.
17 January 2012, 12:00am
Miriam Dalli
Miriam Dalli
3 min read
Joseph Muscat said Labour has one parliamentary group and "not 34", indicating the Opposition will speak with one voice during the no-confidence debate.
Updated with PN and OPM statements at 5:45pm
Opposition leader Joseph Muscat has indicated he will be keeping the Opposition's contribution to the debate on its no-confidence motion short, after the Leader of the House yesterday said all MPs should have one hour to debate the motion.
Muscat today accused home and parliamentary affairs Carm Mifsud Bonnici, the new Leader of the House, of filibustering on political instructions.
"We don't have 34 parliamentary groups but one, and we don't need to lengthen proceedings," Muscat said when asked whether he will be restricting Labour's speakers on the no-confidence motion presented last Friday, in a bid to hasten the debate if all government MPs have the floor for an hour.
"If there is a clear timeframe, we are ready to drop our procedural motion," Muscat said of Labour's other motion to limit the debate on the no-confidence to 180 minutes to be held on Friday between 9am and 12pm.
Muscat accused Mifsud Bonnici of "doing nothing" to reduce the political instability currently gripping Lawrence Gonzi's government after Nationalist MP Franco Debono withdrew his support.
"As an opposition we believe we have shown good will... we cannot understand why the prime minister has taken a decision to hold on to power. There is nothing that justifies this dragging of feet," Muscat said. "I expected the prime minister to make a declaration today and reassure the electorate that he was seeing to this political instability."
The Labour leader also accused Carm Mifsud Bonnici of bringing to parliament the "disaster he has registered in the home affairs portfolio" in a bid to jam the parliamentary agenda. "Our relationship with the former leader of the House, Tonio Borg, was much better."
Muscat said he hoped that tomorrow's House Business Committee meeting will produce a realistic and clear timeframe for the debate of the no-confidence motion. "The country right now is hostage to a situation created by the Leader of the House, lengthened for no reason at all. We want a clear timeframe. If all MPs want an hour they can have it, and we can even start the debate as soon as possible, even tomorrow and on a daily basis from morning to afternoon."
The Nationalist party said yesterday's house committee meeting confirmed government's will to discuss Labour's no-confidence motion appropriately and according to set rules. "Yesterday's meeting and today's press conference confirm Labour's arrogance by trying to gag the parliamentary discussion and limit the discussion time for government's MPs," the party said.
"At the same time that Joseph Muscat is trying to gag MPs he has embarked on an exercise to try and deny people from their right to vote by submitting court writs. This confirms that Joseph Muscat's Labour Party persists with its arrogance," the PN said.
In a separate statement the Office of the Prime Minister said that government's will was to discuss the no-confidence motion according to the rules of House of Representatives. "The haste the Opposition is showing in imposing a time limit on such an important discussion confirms the Opposition's arrogance. Joseph Muscat's actions demonstrate disrespect towards MPs and parliament."
Miriam Dalli joined MaltaToday.com.mt in 2010 becoming assistant editor f...
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The PN's strategy will be to lengthen the time till the general election as much as possible. Everyone is aware of the permits, transfers, jobs etc etc which were awarded to sceptic Nationalists and others to win them back to the GonziPN herd in the run up to the 2008 election and they are hoping they can repeat this at a massive scale so that they either win the next election or else suffer a less humiliating defeat. Unfortunately it is not what you know but who you know.
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The PN accusing the Labour party of arrogance? That's rich coming from a bunch of hypocrites who have stamped their dictatorial methods all over the majority of citizens of this country.
Luke Camilleri •
Demanding 'clear, realistic' time-frame on no-confidence motion from Gonzipn is just a waste of time!
Infact demanding any time-frame on anything is an impossible task for Gonzi & Co...especially with the new Leader of the House, who tends to doze off on time-frames and always has a tendency to let nature takes its course..... and being FRANKLY FRANK , unless pricked by some Maverick the PN used to have in its fold!
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The PN's strategy will be to lengthen the time till the general election as much as possible. Everyone is aware of the permits, transfers, jobs etc etc which were awarded to sceptic Nationalists and others to win them back to the GonziPN herd in the run up to the 2008 election and they are hoping they can repeat this at a massive scale so that they either win the next election or else suffer a less humiliating defeat. Unfortunately it is not what you know but who you know.
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The PN's strategy will be to lengthen the time till the general election as much as possible. Everyone is aware of the permits, transfers, jobs etc etc which were awarded to sceptic Nationalists and others to win them back to the GonziPN herd in the run up to the 2008 election and they are hoping they can repeat this at a massive scale so that they either win the next election or else suffer a less humiliating defeat. Unfortunately it is not what you know but who you know.
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Biex il-PN isalva sa l-ahhar ta' din il-legislatura ftit hemm tama peress li Dalli wera bic-car li mhux ser jikkontesta l-elezzjoni li gejja (u sew jghamel) biss l-ewwel irid itir, jirrizenja jew jwarrbu lill Gonzi ghax il-problemi kollha hija HU u jippruvaw igibu lura lill-Dalli ghax hu biss ghandu l-kredenzjali biex ikun KAP veru tal partit. Il-prokrastinazzjoni ser twassalom biss ghal telfa akbar. Il-pedamenti ijlom jiccaqalqu u ftit hemm tama li ma jiggarfux mela lill Borg Olivier bghatulu lill Austin, lill Tonio Borg nezzawh wahda sew u anke nehhewh minn Leader of the House u poggew lill Karm Mifsud Bonnici, lill Christina bekkewa etc etc etc
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There is only one song adapt to the maltese political scenario at the moment. It is from Tom Cruise film, Top Gun. The song .."Take my breath away" dedicated from lawrence gonzi to franco debono or vice versa. One of them should go. I rather say the Prime Minister. Yes it is a pity that the famous clique will still be left free roaming at Castille. The Nationalist Party can after all salvaged their place in Government for the rest of the legislature. All they have to do is to get rid of Gonzi, or offer him on the altar of sacrifice for the sake of the party's interest. It is not the opportune moment for an early election. How much Franco Debono is ready to compromise we have to wait till Monday, when after everybody, especially the PN deputies, have their say, there will follow the famous vote of no confidence. When..maybe today Wednesday an agreement would be reach on how long will the debate prolong. Well let us join them and all together sing: Taking our breath away, you................
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With no time frame this motion can take up to year 2013 to get voted. This yould mean that the government wants to hold power until the end of the five year term. But is it healthy for our country to have a government without majority? Seems the Pn are 30 years behind they want to keep power withiut majority taking the country back to 1981
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With no time frame this motion can take up to year 2013 to get voted. This yould mean that the government wants to hold power until the end of the five year term. But is it healthy for our country to have a government without majority? Seems the Pn are 30 years behind they want to keep power withiut majority taking the country back to 1981
Stefan Mifsud •
I am afraid to state that you do not even know what has happened.
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@ fenea. Proset x'certifkat tajt lil siehbek l-Onor Tonio Borg li kulhadd jitmellel bih. Tidhru kemm intom kburin bit-team taghkom.
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Citrus is more important than Democracy!
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the pl has to be careful of the "nest of evil" near the throat of this country. by keeping to the minute details of the law these people are destroying morality in politics. the main columns of good politics are Love for the governed, Law, and Language (not rhetoric)that transmits the wholesomeness of politics.All to be IN BALANCED FORM. usually, in politics, it is lack of leadership which destroys this equation, and gonzi pn is ample proof of this malady. This is a test of what people hold sacred, and weather hope from "lies and more lies" mentality in politics have taken hold of the spirit of the people
Stefan Mifsud •
I listened to the House Business Committee yesterday over the internet. What the PN is saying (that the PL wants to limit the time for the debate) is a complete pack of lies.
What the PL said and is insisting on (quite rightly in my opinion) is that each MP from both sides can have 90 mins (which is 30 mins more then that allowed by standing orders as advised to the meeting by the Speaker himself), however the PL wanted a Time and date for the debate to start and a time and date when the debate would finish and a vote taken. In fact quick calculations were made and it was suggested the debate starts on Monday morning (as this Thursday was not acceptable to the PN) and the debate finishes on Wednesday evening, Thursday evening or some other time and date after all members would have spoken. If they wanted. The PL only wanted 1 hour for itself and its representatives for this debate.
This was not accepted by the PN and every time the PL members asked for reasons for this request Mifsud Bonnici kept on insisting that he had no more to say as he does not want to restrict MPs right to speak. Which is a spin on what had been suggested by the PL.
Therefore I say again. What the PN is saying is a pack of lies.
I think tomorrow they will accept to have a debate over three days. Only because MP Franco Debono made it crystal clear (at least that is how I interpreted it) in his intervention after the meeting, that no amount of pressure is going to make him change his mind from voting for the no confidence vote unless the Prime Minister or those who did not perform resign.
These are the MPs we need. I have a question for the PL. Will the PL commit itself to introducing all the things which Franco Debono is insisting on. I believe they would. But an unconditional confirmation from the leader of the PL would be more then welcome.
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Franco Debono is certainly being punished by his own party for letting us know how democracy is at it`s lowest point.We need stability.
Lawrence Covin •
It's not as if anyone on the Government side is going to say anything we haven't heard! We're going to get a lot of boring repetition, that's all. There are very few able speakers in Parliament; you just get carbon copy speeches most of the time. These are just dilatory tactics, and everyone in Malta -whether PN or PL, knows this. Some like it, some don't, but in our heart of hearts we all know these are desperate tactics. It's the last threshing of the dragon's tail. I urge contributors not to accuse the Government of being undemocratic any more -you are just stating the obvious. Call them Fascists, which is what they are.
Stefan Mifsud •
I listened to the House Business Committee yesterday over the internet. What the PN is saying (that the PL wants to limit the time for the debate) is a complete pack of lies.
What the PL said and is insisting on (quite rightly in my opinion) is that each MP from both sides can have 90 mins (which is 30 mins more then that allowed by standing orders as advised to the meeting by the Speaker himself), however the PL wanted a Time and date for the debate to start and a time and date when the debate would finish and a vote taken. In fact quick calculations were made and it was suggested the debate starts on Monday morning (as this Thursday was not acceptable to the PN) and the debate finishes on Wednesday evening, Thursday evening or some other time and date after all members would have spoken. If they wanted. The PL only wanted 1 hour for itself and its representatives for this debate.
This was not accepted by the PN and every time the PL members asked for reasons for this request Mifsud Bonnici kept on insisting that he had no more to say as he does not want to restrict MPs right to speak. Which is a spin on what had been suggested by the PL.
Therefore I say again. What the PN is saying is a pack of lies.
I think tomorrow they will accept to have a debate over three days. Only because MP Franco Debono made it crystal clear (at least that is how I interpreted it) in his intervention after the meeting, that no amount of pressure is going to make him change his mind from voting for the no confidence vote unless the Prime Minister or those who did not perform resign.
These are the MPs we need. I have a question for the PL. Will the PL commit itself to introducing all the things which Franco Debono is insisting on. I believe they would. But an unconditional confirmation from the leader of the PL would be more then welcome.
Stefan Mifsud •
I listened to the House Business Committee yesterday over the internet. What the PN is saying (that the PL wants to limit the time for the debate) is a complete pack of lies.
What the PL said and is insisting on (quite rightly in my opinion) is that each MP from both sides can have 90 mins (which is 30 mins more then that allowed by standing orders as advised to the meeting by the Speaker himself), however the PL wanted a Time and date for the debate to start and a time and date when the debate would finish and a vote taken. In fact quick calculations were made and it was suggested the debate starts on Monday morning (as this Thursday was not acceptable to the PN) and the debate finishes on Wednesday evening, Thursday evening or some other time and date after all members would have spoken. If they wanted. The PL only wanted 1 hour for itself and its representatives for this debate.
This was not accepted by the PN and every time the PL members asked for reasons for this request Mifsud Bonnici kept on insisting that he had no more to say as he does not want to restrict MPs right to speak. Which is a spin on what had been suggested by the PL.
Therefore I say again. What the PN is saying is a pack of lies.
I think tomorrow they will accept to have a debate over three days. Only because MP Franco Debono made it crystal clear (at least that is how I interpreted it) in his intervention after the meeting, that no amount of pressure is going to make him change his mind from voting for the no confidence vote unless the Prime Minister or those who did not perform resign.
These are the MPs we need. I have a question for the PL. Will the PL commit itself to introducing all the things which Franco Debono is insisting on. I believe they would. But an unconditional confirmation from the leader of the PL would be more then welcome.
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This filibustering is being done by gonziPN to serve their electoral timetable. They know they will loose the vote in parliament. They want to continue their preparations for the Pn electoral campaign without officially dissolving parliament. They will bring everything to a climax by end of next week. And then, according to their plan, they will call a PN general council for Sunday 29th in time to decide for a general election, dissolve Parliament by Monday 6th February to have the election on March10th, exactly 33 days from parliament's dissolution. This is the PN's timetable. Only Franco can disturb this by his behaviour in parliament.
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Dawn in-nies imkahhlin mal-poter u ghandom is-siggu mwahhal mal-warrani.
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LABOUR PARTY jibqa ma jinbidel qatt. dejjem irid jimponi. kif jghid hu. kif irid hu. u meta jrid hu. ma tonio borg kontu tghamlu li tridu issa hemm ghadma iebsa u b' karm mifusd bonnici ma titnejkux. x'qed jahseb joseph muscat li diga qed jiggverna lil malta. fadallek fl-oppozizzjoni sur muscat. u bdak li qed tghamel u tghid se ddumu izjed milli qed tahsbu.
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Democracy at its best! Shame on the PN. They are frightened to death by the prospect of facing an election which they would have to contest without the usual intrigues and 'pjaciri' and other 'fottimenti' to which they have become painfully addicted. The other day Gonzi was screaming his head off and boasting that Malta was advancing in education, employment, investment, bla bla bla etc etc. If this is so, and the PN has led the country to this paradise, why this cold fear of an early election?
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carm mifsud bonnici, mela veru li qal franco debono ma kellekx hila tmexi il ministeru tal gustizja, issa ghanqas bhala leader of the house ma in kapaci.
Igor P. Shuvalov •
"If all MPs want an hour they can have it, and we can even start the debate as soon as possible, even tomorrow and on a daily basis from morning to afternoon." Joe Muscat
This is being interpreted by the OPM that "the Opposition is ...imposing a time limit on such an important discussion" and that this " confirms the Opposition's arrogance.".
Where is the time limitation? Is it because the Opposition wants the Government side to give a time frame for this discussion? Who is arrogant, the Opposition which is saying take all the time you want but at least people out there should know when this debate is going to reach its end or the Government who wants to ride roughshod over everybody to have its way?
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In reality there is nothing to discuss. We have had two weeks of relentless talking. All that needed to be said was said.
It's now very simple...Does the PM have the confidence of the majority of the house or not?
Stop playing around with people's lives we are sick and tired of all the gimmicks and antics. It is now democracy that's at stake. I sincerely hope that those PN backbenchers that still have a conscience and listen to the distress of their constituents realise this and rise above party politics.
Let the real politicians rise to the challenge!
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Issa taraw kif isibu xi skuza ohra ghada u jghidu li l-parlament ghandu jibqa jiltaqa ghal-istess numru ta' sieghat,jigifieri 3 sieghat kulljum u jiltaqghu biss 3 ijiem fil-gimgha, halli b'hekk i-dibattitu jiehu madwar 3 gimghat u nofs, jekk qed naghmel il-kalkoli tajjeb !
DAN GVERN TOTALITARJU LI JAF LI TILEF IL-MAGGRANZA U JRID JIBQA JIGGVERNA XORTA WAHDA BL-GHAJNUNA TA' MIN SUPPOST MA JHALLIX DAWN L-AFFARIJIET ISIRU !!!!!
Eddy Privitera
Mark Fenech •
Joseph, sewwa tagħmel tafdahomx għax dawn fariżej. Jgħidu mgħodd u jagħmlu ieħor. Dawk li kienu veru jridu d-demokrazija tirbaħ kieku diġa fetħu l-parlament u morna għall-vot ta' fiduċja mressaq minnhom stess ħalli jaraw fejn qiegħdin, u mhux kelli tressaq vot ta' sfiduċja f'gonzipn inti. Dan jibżgħu ħafna għas-siġġu u għalhekk kissru lil Malta b'dan l-attaġġjament tagħhom, għax għandhom ħafna ħbieb tal-ħbieb li jridu jpattuhom, billi jagħtuhom konsolenzi kontra konsolenzi għall-xejn b'xejn u bi flus kbar. Dawn fariżej. L-aktar nies li anke s-Sinjur tagħna Gesu' Kristu ma kienx jibża juri li fil-fatt kien jobogħhom għax kienu nies ta' wiċċ b'ieħor.
