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Opposition leader says Speaker should be a government MP
Opposition leader Lawrence Gonzi has told Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to nominate a government MP to serve as Speaker.
23 March 2013, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
1 min read
Opposition leader Lawrence Gonzi. (file photo)
Opposition leader Lawrence Gonzi is of the belief that the new Speaker of the House of Representatives should be someone coming from the government benches given the nine-seat majority which the Labour government is now enjoying.
During an interview on Radio 101, Gonzi urged Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to follow his advice, given that doing otherwise would be a sign of disrespect toward the Constitution.
Gonzi himself had served as Speaker from 1988 to 1996 and had been chosen from outside parliament.
Muscat's intentions of whom he intends to nominate have not been made public. However, Labour's former deputy leader Anglu Farrugia said he would accept the position if Muscat were to nominate him. Farrugia's comments were made following a meeting he held with Joseph Muscat at Castille.
Speaking on the election defeat suffered by the PN, Gonzi attributed the PN's long term in government as one of the factors, together with the Enemalta oil corruption scandal, the cohabitation law which had not been enacted, the failed public transport reform and hunting and trapping among others.
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Dear Justice, hypocrisy was the only characteristic, GonziPN had copious quantity of. Even more than sleaze and nepotism.
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Ghaliex Dr. Gonzi qed tghid hekk mhux ahjar wara li twarrab minn kap il-partit imur jinghalaq f'irtir ghal zmien twil biex jipprova jsib l-gheruq li dbielu. Nahseb li ser ikollu l-casting vote bhal ta qablu. Li jinqal jekk il-partit ma jiggedditx mil-pedamenti kollu superflu.
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DR Lawrence Gonzi, you had your chance and you blew it. Arrogance and ignoring the call of the people was your downfall. You stuck by the people that surrounded you, who of course gave you some bad advice and you followed and stuck up for HIM till the end. Everybody tried to warn you and the PN about this man but you took the blame for his mistakes, even after the Arriva fiasco. You have no right to tell Joseph Muscat who to appoint, this is his administration now, and maybe you should let him run it as you did with yours. You were warned ahead of time that if this right hand man did not go, then expect the worse and that is the way it was carried out. Next time listen to the people and stop treating the Maltese People like imbeciles, because we are not. That goes for both leaders. The government is the people and the people is the government. Don't any of you leaders ever forget that phrase, because the people are the ones that elect you in the first place..
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dr gonzi isma xqall nigel farage xdemokrazija baswijja ufaqar essagerat intom kollha hallejtu flewropa.meta kont tmur brussels basta tiftahar kemm kienet bsahhitta lekonomija fmalta pero qatt ma tillhom li hawn nies jghixu fil poverta bil pensjoni ta 500 ewro fix xaghar u inqas u int u shabeh hadduwhom fil gieghma.kief ma tisthux mil poplu malti u ghawgi.warrbu mix xena politika please u ghamlu pjacir lill kullhadd.
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Dan il-bniedem jimmeraviljani. Fl-Elezzjonijiet tal-1998 il-PN kellu 5 siggijiet izjed mill-MLP (35 - 30) meta bi proporzjonalita' stretta kellhom jigu 35 -32, differenza ta' 3 siggijiet. Dak inhar il-PN ma tkazax jahtar Speaker minn barra fil-persuna tas-Sur Anton Tabone li kien baqa' l-art. L-ewwel ghandhom jitghallmu xi tfisser demokrazija u rispett lejn il-kostituzzjoni qabel ma jibdew jipriedkaw lilna!!
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May I add dear gonzipn. Your 600 euros weekly increase, your hearty vote to increase the utilities tariffs, your indifference to thousands left waiting for hours on end in the Mater Dei corridors, your 80 million euros dream of a roofless theatre and others. So you have the cheek to urge JM to follow your advice to appoint an elected MP as speaker. And you even dare say that if JM does not comply with your advice, this would be a sign of disrespect toward the Constitution. This when you yourself has served as speaker and you were chosen from OUTSIDE Parliament. Hawwadni ha nifhem dear gonnzipn. How shameful, how arrogant and how cheeky. No wonder the pn was wiped out.
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its no use crying over spilt milk dr gonzi.your arrogance and most of your party have brought the downfall of the wrecked ship into deep water.now it is not the time to advice the prime minister what to do because as i said with your arrogance you never took advice from no one except fome your close friend dr gatt.
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I believed we had reached the ultimate in hypocrisy but this goes beyond. Every single PN Government since 1987 has had a speaker chosen from candidates who failed to reach the goal post, whether the PN had 3 seats or 1. The Speaker in the last legislature was a defacto member of the GONZIPN clique voting for the Government every time to prop him up despite the constitutional illegality of running the Government without a majority. Now GONZI wants to change the goal post because the PL Movement and the People of Malta thrashed GONZIPN. What was constitutionally legal in January 2013 is constitutionally legal in April 2013 and Gonzi should say mea culpa mea maxima culpa and shut up.
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Meta int kont mahtur Speakerkont membru parlamentari?
Kemm kont tiftahar li int il-Prim Ministrru u int tiehu id-decizjonijiet, u issa li int kap tal-oppozizjoni tahseb li ghandek xi dritt divin li tiehu xi decizjonijiet ghan nom ta dan il pajjiz? Jew peress li Joseph Muscat qed jghid li Malta taghna ilkoll ghandek xi dritt special, tinsiex haga wahda lu meta il-poplu iddecida fuq id divorzju int hadta kontra ir-rieda tal maggoranza. Meta lil haddiema taghjthom 1.16 ewro u int hadt 500 ewro fil gimgha ghal tlett snin shah dak in nhar Malta kienet tieghek u ta xi erba ohra fil klikka bhal Austin Gatt, Manwel Delia Claudio Grech, dak tal-arloggi u xi erba kappijiet tac-civil arroganti daqshekk bhal dak li kiem hemm triq ta Paris B'Kara. Issa il-mejjex tal pajjiz mhux int imma hemm haddiehor mela oqdod ftit kwiet.
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Indeed Dr Gonzi: what a face and yes, shame on you!! You must have learnt all this from DCG!! The day you step down as the leader of PN, a carcade should be organized ala grande!! No surprise WHY the PN was literarly turned into pieces. You ought to be ashamed mentioning the "disrespect towards the constitution". You never learn!!
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nesa li qieghed fl oppozzijoni, u iz-zmien ta l arroganza spicca!!!
Albert Zammit •
To use his words , You are going to be IRRELEVANT !
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Dan min jahseb li hu BIEX JIDDETTA hu min u kif ikun Speaker?
Meta kien ghazel il Dr. Michael Frendo kien indahallu xi hadd?
Lanqas kien gie elett Frendo, kien Ministru sfiducat u nvolut fl-iskandlu tal-Biljetti tal-Linja u dan kien GONZI'S CHOICE!
Issa jrid ikompli jiddetta wkoll?
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Dr. Gonzi, your days are over, now let others who happen to be open minded decide. You ran the show and we the people gave you the thumb down. Please give others a chance to proof themselves with new ideas, if they do it alone as you did the people will vote them out. In the meantime let them be.
Igor P. Shuvalov •
How dare Dr Gonzi insist that the Speaker be chosen from Labour MPs when despite a majority of 5 MPs, a Nationalist Government in 1998 appointed Mr Anton Tabone, a Nationalists candidate who failed to make to Parliament, as Speaker.
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aslpiter... so very well said - prosit. Dal-bniedem huwa inkredibbilment arroganti u ma jisthi minn xejn.
Jekk kelli farka simpatija mieghu wara l-umiljazzjoni li sofra hmistax ilu, din issa sparixxiet ukoll b'dal kummenti sfaccati tieghu.
Gonzi... mur inheba ruhi. Imissek bilkemm qed tgholli wiccek il-fuq mill-art wara dak kollu li ghamilt fl-ahhar sena fil-gvern u li fuqu il-poplu tak verdett tant car.
Isma minni - ixtri kelb u gheda mieghu. Imma tantx tkellmu tafx - ma jmurx hu wkoll jinduna kemm int ipokrita u vili u jdur ghalik u jahtfek xi hatfa kif hatfek il-poplu!!!
Emmanuel Mallia •
You have not changed have you ! There are much more serious issues for you to reflect and discuss !!
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gonzi IRREVELANTI, ghax ma tigabarx ma Kate.
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Incredulous. He might as well shut up. His Gov had 15 years to do this. opportunitm and expediency to deflect the monumental debacle of the PN in the 21st century
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This man Gonżi is beyond comprehension! He dares lecture on constitutional obligations and respect when for about a year he ignored his constitutional obligations by denying the fact that his government had lost the backing of a Parliamentary majority. He went so far as to stretch out his tenure till 9/3/13 when he his budget motion had failed to be accepted by a parliamentary majority. His arrogance, stupidity and shameless cheek have jumped into the mythical!
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This man Gonżi is beyond comprehension! He dares lecture on constitutional obligations and respect when for about a year he ignored his constitutional obligations by denying the fact that his government had lost the backing of a Parliamentary majority. He went so far as to stretch out his tenure till 9/3/13 when he his budget motion had failed to be accepted by a parliamentary majority. His arrogance, stupidity and shameless cheek have jumped into the mythical!
