Debono will not support government as long as condemnation stands

Following the recent barrage of blogs and comments on Austin Gatt and his henchmen, Nationalist MP Franco Debono has warned the party leadership that they are in fro some trouble when Parliament reconvenes in October with, amongst other matters, a crucial and difficult Budget 2013 on its agenda.

"How can you condemn me and then expect me to back you in parliament?" a bellicose Debono told MaltaToday, referring to his ousting from the party ticket for the 2013 elections for having voted for the resignation of Nationalist minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici in an Opposition motion back in May.

Explaining that the Nationalist government needs each and every vote of its MPs to survive in parliament, following the breakaway of Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando as an independent MP, Debono said: "If you need somebody's vote you do not go on to condemn him, especially in the unjust and cowardly fashion that they have condemned me."

The government may yet face further embarrassment in parliament on forthcoming bills and possibly worse if it fails to secure a majority on the 2013 Budget - but that largely depends on who far Debono will act on his threat.

Following his consequent ban from contesting elections on the PN ticket, Debono declared that he will not back the government in parliament as long as investments and transport minister Austin Gatt remains a cabinet member.

In January, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had said that Austin Gatt will be relinquishing his ministerial post in the run-up to the general election in order to concentrate on the PN's electoral campaign. However at the moment, Gatt seems to be juggling the two jobs simultaneously.

By the time of going to print, the Prime Minister's office did not reply to MaltaToday's question on whether Lawrence Gonzi stands by his previous declarations on Gatt.

Asked whether he views the transport minister's failure to relinquish his ministerial post as a direct challenge, Franco Debono said it was Gatt's business but added that "the writing is on the wall".

The Nationalist Party has issued a condemnation and a ban on contesting the next elections for Debono and fellow MPs Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Jesmond Mugliett for going against the party whip's orders on two Opposition motions that resulted in the resignation of Carm Mifsud Bonnici (in the case of Debono's vote), and for the latter MPs, the resignation of Richard Cachia Caruana as permanent representative to the EU.

"The Nationalist Party thought they could discard us and head into elections on the steam of the new candidates," Debono told MaltaToday. "They thought Claudio Grech will be the flag-bearer, however the decision has now backfired. Will they now purge the PN by fielding Claudio Grech as a candidate?" Debono sardonically asked of the former right-hand man to Austin Gatt.

Writing on his blog this week, Debono drew comparisons between the ban on his candidature, and the candidature of Claudio Grech, the IT policy advisor for Austin Gatt, specifically after having been found guilty of falsifying a police identification card in 1994.

In his comments to MaltaToday, Debono said: "These people impose themselves and do not budge. They are shameless."

He added: "The Austin Gatt phenomenon is a depressing symptom of Maltese politics. He occupies other persons' places. He believes that nobody is as good as him."

Debono went on to explain that although Gatt achieved fewer votes than other MPs such as Jean-Pierre Farrugia on the first electoral district, Gatt was rewarded with successive ministerial posts, while other MPs were left on the backbench.

Debono insisted that Gatt should have taken the honourable way out and resigned after the BSWC and Arriva fiascos and added: "I would have gone into hiding."

On the parliamentary agenda, Debono said there are 17 pending bills, apart from the budget. He said the government is attempting to rush through these important laws - which include bills on IVF, cohabitation and the whistle-blower act - in the few remaining months.

He stressed that if the government was serious about introducing such important reforms, it would have moved them at an earlier stage and parliament would not have spent long months in recess.

"You cannot move such important and controversial bills at the end of a legislature. They are making a whole mess. What kind of wisdom is this?" Debono said.

In the aftermath of the Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando breakaway, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi listed a number of bills the Parliament will debate in October, including IVF, cohabitation and a bill on parliamentary autonomy, one of Debono's numerous proposals.

"If an MP has come up with a valid idea and pushed for an important reform, the MP should be the one to implement the reform," Debono said. However, he said that ministers go on and implement half-baked laws while the persons behind the reform are sidelined.

Last week, Debono did not exclude the possibility of taking legal action against the Nationalist Party to contest the decisions to condemn and ban him from contesting election on the party ticket.

Debono described these decisions as null and said they "blatantly ignore the principles of natural justice".

There are two rules that natural justice is concerned with. These are the rule against bias and the right to a fair hearing.

The MP insists that the PN keeps ignoring the fact that the decisions are still "pending" since he has asked the party to revoke the condemnation.