Debono denies ‘taunting’ Gonzi with SMSes at all hours

Since the first day after the 2008 general elections until the end of the eleventh legislature, former Nationalist MP Franco Debono taunted him with SMSs that came at all hours of the day and night, former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has claimed.

"I received not hundreds but thousands of SMSs just from one single individual which came at all hours of the day and night," Gonzi told The Sunday Times.

"Once I was even attending an important EU summit in Brussels, when I received an SMS from this person [Debono] who demanded to speak to me even though it was midnight and I was in a meeting in Brussels negotiating one of the most difficult situations we were facing in Europe."

Refusing to discuss the contents of the SMSs, Gonzi said the whole episode was now "water under the bridge" describing it as being part of "a five-year sage".

"The messages came even when I was with my family... it was a source of uncertainty, tension and pressure even for my family," he said.

But when contacted for a comment, Franco Debono denied having sent his former leader "thousands" of SMSs, saying mobile communication between the two took place between 2010 and 2011. 

"The last SMS I sent him was on the day of the election results. Before that it must have been in 2011. After January 2012, everything was out in the open and there was no need to contact him directly," he said, referring to all the issues he raised in parliament.

"I have no doubt that these SMSs included normal communication or messages of praise," he said, adding that there were backbenchers who had sent Gonzi emails as well.

Debono also recalled reporting to Castille that he suspected his mobile had been tampered with. "I remember people telling me they receivied SMSs from me when in reality I would have never sent the SMS," he said.

"I harbor no negative feelings against Gonzi and I wish him well and a speedy recovery. I am now looking forward to reconciliation and I am ready to forgive him for all the pain I was forced to go through."

In the interview Lawrence Gonzi said he was losing sight in his right eye.

In an SMS he sent to Gonzi on 10 March Debono told him, "despite all the harm you caused me I forgive you".

Debono however took umbrage at Gonzi's comment describing him as a source of tension: "Weren't Austin Gatt, Dolores Cristina and Tonio Fenech a source of tension to him?" he said.

He added the PN had caused him much stress when he was being accused by Herman Schiavone of being behind an anonymous letter sent to him in 2008.

"The PN knew I did nothing wrong and yet they failed to take immediate action. At the end, they still didn't allow him [Schiavone] to contest the election on the PN ticket, so while leave me hanging until the end?" Debono said.

Adamant he will be moving forward and will now be concentrating on his new role of Constitutional convention coordinator, Debono said his only wish was to let bygones be bygones. He argued, that the SMSs story was pushed by the newspaper more than Gonzi may have wanted to delve into the issue.

"They [STOM] didn't even have the decency to ask for my version of events," Debono insisted.