Franco Debono admits party financing’s lukewarm appeal to parties [WATCH]

Nationalist MP Franco Debono has admitted his campaign for a party financing bill lacks the enthusiasm of both sides of the House, but insisted the law was fundamental to the democratic development of the country.

"There is lethargy on party financing from both the PN and Labour," Debono said on Favourite Channel's Reporter, which is produced by Mediatoday. "It's not a romantic subject, it's something that people find little connection to the things they complain about on a daily basis.

"But it ultimately conditions the decisions parties-in-government take," Debono said.

Debono's bill, which is to be discussed at Cabinet level, stipulates that political parties must register all donations exceeding €300 made from any one source in a calendar year. When aggregate donations add up to more than €7,000, the names of the donors must be made public by being given to the Electoral Commissioner. Donations of more than €50,000 in one year would not be permissible.

Now famed for his rebellious stance towards the Nationalist party when he demanded that ministers like Austin Gatt and Carm Mifsud Bonnici take political responsibility for shortcomings in transport and justice reforms respectively, Debono said he had no regrets of having vote in favour of Opposition motions of no-confidence against government ministers.

"I would do the same again," Debono said of his vote that cost Mifsud Bonnici's ministerial post. "I don't shoot from the hip, and I think my position out clearly.

"I have always insisted that somebody must take responsibility. It was a historic moment for parliament to deliver its verdict. And it was not a motion of confidence in Carm Mifsud Bonnici personally, but in his role as a minister."

Debono also struck a defiant tone when he said that no MP should be taken for granted. "Nobody can bulldoze over the parliament, and no MP should be taken for granted because that's the way our parliamentary system works. It's all down to the politics of persuasion, as Guido de Marco put it. It's the way of managing people. That's the secret."

Debono also admitted he still felt some unease over his place inside the Nationalist party, but was adamant that his actions have been inspired by the PN's creed.

"The issues I raised were all in line with Nationalist principles... if we once fought for work, justice, and liberty, but it took us 20 years to give police suspects the right to lawyer during interrogation, then we surely deviated from our principles."