Labour leader fans the flames of Debono’s ire ahead of confidence vote

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat yesterday took the unprecedented step in issuing a public condemnation of the comments carried in a blogpost by the Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, targeting Nationalist MP Franco Debono and his mother.

As news came in yesterday evening that Debono had asked the Prime Minister to publicly condemn Caruana Galizia's personal blog, Muscat took the step to publicly call on Lawrence Gonzi to "take all steps necessary to stop the attacks" from Caruana Galizia, whose mordant criticism of Labour MPs and other critics of the Nationalist government has cemented the perception that her blog is the PN's unofficial voice.

There were no signs of Caruana Galizia relenting in her sharp dissection of the rebellious backbencher, accusing Debono of being a liar and that he asked to be made Leader of the House, deputy chairman of PN think-tank AZAD "to accompany the prime minister and Simon Busuttil to their meetings with various associations", and for the prime minister to condemn her publicly "for writing about him and his wretched mother".

"How can the prime minister of a liberal democracy do something like that? That is the sort of thing you would expect from the children of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution, the Malta Labour Party," Caruana Galizia wrote.

Right on cue, Muscat yesterday publicly called on Gonzi to take steps to stop Caruana Galizia's "attacks", something the prime minister was only willing to go as far as "deploring personal attacks by bloggers and journalists" during his speech to the House on Wednesday evening.

Debono himself has put much store in highlighting the columnist's long friendship with another of his favourite targets - permanent representative to the EU Richard Cachia Caruana - by referring to Caruana Galizia as 'Daphne Cachia Caruana' in parliament.

At play is a political tug-of-war between Gonzi and Debono, in which Caruana Galizia's attacks on Debono may prove crucial in justifying his lack of support for the government - perhaps with an abstention on the motion calling for the resignaton of Richard Cachia Caruana.

Debono has so far said he will not vote against government on Monday's vote of confidence, knowing Gonzi will not take the country to early elections unless the irascible MP dead-legs the administration so that he can be paraded as a scapegoat.

Debono yesterday claimed his vote in favour of the Opposition's motion, that led to the resignation of home affairs minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici, had been in part determined by Gonzi's unwillingness to "specifically condemn" Caruana Galizia's blogs mocking his mother and calling for her arrest 'for foisting her [son] on us' in a post published in January shortly after the MP broke ranks with the government.

Debono has denied asking for the post of Leader of the House, previously occupied by Mifsud Bonnici, something that Caruana Galizia has insisted was part of his demands during discussions with a government interlocutor seeking to placate the MP, and stop him from voting with the Opposition.

"I was asking them who would be made Leader of the House if Mifsud Bonnici resigns... I wasn't asking to be appointed, so much so that I don't even know whether you have to be a minister to be appointed to the role.

"But I did make it clear I would have appreciated such an offer, even though I would have never accepted it," he said.

The MP told MaltaToday he did ask the Prime Minister - even before the 9 May vote on the budget measures - to condemn "a blogger's vile attack against my mother and family."

"I asked him to be specific in his condemnation," Debono said, but refused to name the blogger.

"I don't care about the attacks leveled against me, but I will never accept attacks leveled against my family. This is psychological violence, not some parliamentary motion," Debono said.

Indeed, in his speech on Wednesday evening, Lawrence Gonzi said his government condemned attacks against any MP by bloggers.

But Debono said the lack of specificity in his condemnation was "very determining" for how he voted. "We were so close and yet so far," Debono said on the discussions between him and the PN.