In 2012 | The men who shaped the year

Franco Debono

Five years and one day after being elected as the youngest MP, Franco Debono will most probably go vote at the Ghaxaq primary school, however it not yet known whether the outgoing MP will vote for himself or for somebody else.

The 9 March election, which also coincides with the MP's birthday, was brought about by his bold decision to vote against the 2013 Budget on 10 December. After being dubbed Maverick of the Year in 2011, Debono took his dissent to another level over the past 12 months.

His year started in the same fashion as the previous one ended. Threatening to withdraw his support for government if the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry was not divided, calling for Lawrence Gonzi's resignation after being left out of the Cabinet reshuffle and abstaining in a vote of no-confidence in the government forcing Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to call for a PN leadership contest, in which he was confirmed as PN leader with over 96% of the general council's 899 voters.

All the above happened in the first two months of the 2012, however Gonzi's attempt to quell internal dissent by holding a one-horse race leadership contest failed miserably as Debono, alongside other rebel MPs, was a constant thorn in the Prime Minister's side for the whole year.

Although PN apologists and certain elements in the media tried to rubbish Debono and at times even question his sanity and intentions, the backbencher relentlessly soldiered on - for the most part, alone - bringing government down with his final act of defiance in December.

Despite Gonzi's attempts to appease Debono by offering him a chauffer and four members of staff and an ad hoc post as special delegate for Constitutional reform, the MP stood firm and proved to be more coherent then most of his parliamentary colleagues. 

The MP even endured the reconciliation efforts undertaken by the Prime Minister's emissaries from PBS: Peppi Azzopardi and Anton Attard. Debono unquestionably was a disruptive force which could not be ignored, and he enlivened the political scene over the past two years.

His stubborn resolve to reform the justice system and many other facets of the Maltese establishment plunged the country into a state of uncertainty, exposing many democratic deficits of the Maltese political system in the process.

Debono will be remembered for his courage, his disruptive influence, his sharpness, his uncanny ability to outwit his opposition while drawing a dose of antipathy from many quarters and his vision which only history will judge whether it was ahead of its time or simply deluded.

In 2012 the lawyer and MP dominated the news headlines, family discussions and small talk at the groceries. It's hard to cancel out the memories of his remarkable speeches in parliament, justifying his bold votes in no-confidence motions in government and former minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici which consequently earned him an electoral ban. Other unforgettable moments include his performance on TV shows which left his hostile hosts licking their wounds.

His blog posts and his interviews will also be sorely missed by the neutral observers, although he could spring a surprise and obstinately found a new political formation to contest the 2013 election.

Although Debono's ambitions - or as he describes them, "methods" - could have clouded the reforms he championed, his words and actions will echo beyond this legislature and attempts to belittle him or portray him as "irrelevant".

In challenging the status quo in terms of broadcasting, party financing and calling for more transparency and accountability, Debono's rebellion also contributed to the feeble attempt by both major parties to elect new deputy leaders and project a more inclusive image.

However, once the campaign is underway, we will see the worst of both major parties, and whoever emerges victorious could well end up with a rainbow-coalition parliamentary group, whose loyalties are divided between the leader and personal ambition.

It is still early to judge Debono's impact on Malta's political structures, however he will certainly not be missed by the current PN administration and definitely never forgotten by Where's Everybody anchormen Lou Bondì and Norman Vella, along with the rest of the electorate.

Yet, as claimed by Debono himself, most of his ideas and suggestions will be taken on board by all political parties and whoever is in government will have to at least try to carry out some kind of reform in the justice system, party financing, broadcasting and Parliamentary autonomy.

Though he may have been a pain in the backside for over a year - a pain felt even more keenly by the PN - Franco Debono's unruly but gallant crusade to reform a comatose political system will transcend the memories of a turbulent 2012 and in one way or another, shape the future.

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando's decision to resign from the PN in June effectively robbed Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi of his one-seat majority. However, he created an unconventional combination with the PN by pledging to collaborate with the government for the completion of its electoral mandate.

In real terms, Pullicino Orlando kept to his side of the bargain after resigning, and did not create any further awkward moments for his former party. After the summer pact, Pullicino Orlando stayed in line and voted with the government in the handful of votes taken between June and December, albeit harsh criticism of the IVF and cohabitation bills.

The closest Pullicino Orlando came to withdrawing his support was in the failed privatisation of public car park management, when he hinted that he would have backed a vote of no-confidence in transport minister Austin Gatt. However, the motion never materialised, and the privatisation was withdrawn.

Despite being condemned and banned from contesting elections with the PN together with Franco Debono and Jesmond Mugliett, Pullicino Orlando had already stated that he will not be contesting the 2013 elections.

He may well claim that he has been a thorn in the government's side since before Gonzi's re-election in 2008.

In fact, he built a reputation of a politician guided by strong environmental principles, when he opposed the development of cement plant in Siggiewi and a temporary landfill a short distance from the prehistoric temples of Mnajdra. However his unblemished reputation took a heavy blow when Alfred Sant revealed that Pullicino Orlando, back then perceived to be a loyal ally of Lawrence Gonzi, was the owner of pristine land in Mistra earmarked for the development of the MEPA-approved 'Spin Valley' disco. This contrasted with Lawrence Gonzi's promise to redress the country's environmental deficit.

Instead of ditching him on the eve of the general election, the GonziPN electoral machine excelled in turning an embarrassment in to a political opportunity, turning Pullicino Orlando into a martyr of Alfred Sant's antics.

Once elected with a staggering 5,131 votes from two districts, Pullicino Orlando quickly became an embarrassment to the PN. Not only were Sant's allegations proved right, and the permit for the disco revoked... but the MP who had proved so useful an electoral asset was suddenly turned into a pariah subjected to the criticism of PN-friendly media pundits after the general election.

Just a few months into the new legislature, the Zebbug MP led a mini-revolt against a project in which Richard Cachia Caruana was involved as a member of the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation. The controversial project, included an underground museum to house St John's collection of Flemish tapestries. In the end, JPO got the first taste of victory by testing for the first time Gonzi's one-seat majority with project being withdrawn in February 2009.

Then the MP enshrined his name in the annals of history as the man whose private members' bill on divorce signalled a definitive break in Church-State relations.

By championing the divorce bill, he struck at the heart of the party's identity, putting Gonzi in an embarrassing situation of having to vote against divorce after the referendum was approved.

The thorny issue also brought to the fore a split between the PN's liberal and conservative wings. In March this year, Pullicino Orlando went one step further to became the first MP to propose gay marriage.

The string of bold stands on civil liberties and his role in the 2008 Mistra saga not only embarrassed Gonzi but also lost Pullicino Orlando support within the party which reached its highest point when the MP wept on TV prior to the 2008 election.

However the straw that broke the camel's back was his vote against Malta EU amabassador and eminence grise Richard Cachia Caruana, which led to the latter's resignation. 

Then he surprised everyone by opening fire on the issue of Turkish membership in the European Union. What seemed a non-issue for most Maltese - except for a few pigheaded 'Islamophobes' - can be seen to have its own hidden logic directed against Richard Cachia Caruana.

For it was during this petty controversy that Pullicino Orlando exhumed the cable in which Richard Cachia Caruana had lobbied for Malta's entry in NATO's Partnership for Peace programme.

The whole issue then degenerated into a full-blown internal battle which saw the PN executive committee acquit Cachia Caruana of the accusations of collusion levelled at him by the MP.

After being criticised by a number of senior PN officials and MPs, Pullicino Orlando said his reason for resigning stemmed from the fact that he did not "feel comfortable militating in a party which has been hijacked by Mr Richard Cachia Caruana and Dr Austin Gatt".

Unlike Franco Debono, it is very unlikely that Pullicino Orlando will play any part in the 2013 electoral campaign, however despite giving a bad name to coalition politics the controversial MP will be remembered for being the mastermind behind the introduction of divorce and the catalyst for some serious soul-searching within the PN.

Jesmond Mugliett

Despite lacking the aggressiveness and the drive of Debono and Pullicino Orlando, the former transport minister Jesmond Mugliett also played a part in the Nationalist government's annus horribilis.

The MP was also condemned and banned from contesting elections on the PN ticket despite declaring that he would not be contesting the election anyway.

Things started turning sour on day one of the 2008 legislature as he was one of the unfortunate former ministers to be informed by the Prime Minister that their services were no longer required, via SMS.

Mugliett's dissent was certainly more subdued than that of Debono and Pullicino Orlando, however he still had the courage to abstain on the Richard Cachia Caruana motion of no-confidence.

Though he was more of a silent dissident than a vociferous rebel, Mugliett still suffered the same fate as his soon-to-be former colleagues.

The former PN minister, who had also backed the introduction of divorce, justified his abstention on the RCC vote by saying that the decision to rejoin Partnership for Peace should have been debated in the House.

He had accused the PN of being "selective" with its condemnation and ban, and although his legacy will be shadowed by that of Debono and Pullicino Orlando, Mugliett will be best remembered as another thorn in Gonzi's side, which probably says more about Gonzi's system than about the MP. 

Richard Cachia Caruana

For over 30 years, Richard Cachia Caruana has quietly militated behind the scenes of the Nationalist Party and pulled the strings of the governments it led between 1987 and the present: rising inexorably to become the undisputed power behind the throne for both Eddie Fenech Adami and his successor Lawrence Gonzi.

Few would have expected at the beginning of the year that by the end of 2012 the omnipresent 'eminence grise' would no longer be permanent representative to the EU.

Before the Parliamentary vote in June, Cachia Caruana was a shady character who operated out of the public eye.

Though a controversial and divisive figure, RCC's role was crucial to the functions of government on both local and international stage.

His exclusion from public life seemed very unlikely until it actually happened, and the PN, which owes so much to him, was left to pick up the pieces of a clearly unexpected cataclysm.

The sudden loss of what many consider a vital part of the machinery of the Gonzi's administration aroused renewed interest in the mysterious figure who was forced to resign following the Opposition motion calling for his resignation, based on US embassy cable leaked by Wikileaks, which quotes American officials saying Cachia Caruana supported a 'procedural band aid' to revive Malta's partnership for peace agreement without having to go to parliament for a divisive vote.

However in recent weeks, Cachia Caruana has once again disappeared in the shadows, and will most probably be calling the shots at the PN headquarters during the electoral campaign.

Relatively unknown, never elected, forced to resign, master of puppets, RCC is set to remain unless the PN suffers a shattering defeat at the polls and an improbable grassroots upheaval sets RCC's (and Austin Gatt's) head rolling.

Carm Mifsud Bonnici

Minutes after Carm Mifsud Bonnici lost the vote of no-confidence in May, the former home affairs and justice minister cut a desolate figure as Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi announced that he had accepted his minister's resignation.

After having suffered the humiliation of having justice taken away from his portfolio, Carm Mifsud Bonnici, the latest in a veritable dynasty that has peppered many of the country's most strategic power-nodes with Mifsud Bonnicis of various shapes and sizes, had to undergo further humiliation in facing a motion of no-confidence for his shortcomings in his responsibility for the minefields called the Law Courts, the Police Force, the Armed Forces, the so-called 'Corradino Correctional Facilities' and the immigration policy.

What made this all the more bitter was that he had to admit defeat and give way after a protracted and acrimonious showdown with one of his own parliamentary colleagues, Franco Debono.

Albeit drawing sympathetic reactions and being perceived as an honest, loyal and dedicated politician and individual, Mifsud Bonnici was harshly criticised, and his ability to administer such an important and unrewarding portfolio was put into doubt.

Unfortunately, Mifsud Bonnici's time at the helm of justice and home affairs was peppered with a number of deaths of persons in police custody, the catastrophic state of prison, the inability to carry out the protracted reform in justice and the shameful state of detention centres for migrants.

The self-confessed conservative's political career is far from over. However, coming back from such a mortifying chapter in his political life will take much more than gallantry and sound morals.