‘Gonzi must acknowledge he was wrong, history proved me right’ – Debono

In reaction to Gonzi's extensive interview in MaltaToday's Sunday edition, in which the former PN leader said that his government's troubles boiled down to "personal agendas," the former MP and current Law Commissioner said, "The only personal agenda at play was Gonzi's obligation towards Austin Gatt and Carm Mifsud Bonnici."

"When will someone ask him whether he was distracted by the blunders committed by education minister Dolores Cristina, health minister Joe Cassar and home affairs minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici? And what about Austin Gatt's scandals? How could he even blame backbenchers when he surrounded himself by such incompetence at Cabinet level?" Debono said.

In his interview, Gonzi refused to delve into the events that led to Franco Debono's vote against the 2013 Budget, which eventually brought his government down.

"I'm not going to describe anything. It was a problem that led to the dissolution of parliament on a budget vote," Gonzi said. Asked whether he resisted Debono's ambition to be minister, a dismissive Gonzi said "it was always about personal agendas".

Speaking to MaltaToday, Debono retorted, "History proved me right. I did well to vote against the Budget and the electorate endorsed my stand wholeheartedly, since it supported my stand, resulting in a massive historic defeat for a party that defended Austin Gatt's actions at all costs. If the electorate wanted Gonzi to implement the budget, they would have returned Gonzi to office, but they did the opposite. So I was right all along. Has Gonzi realised that an election came along, which he lost heavily?"

He also called on Gonzi to acknowledge that it was the people around him who let him down and the backbenchers' stands were a natural reaction to the dreadful ministerial performances.

Debono insisted that the big reforms he championed during the last legislature were important and valid. "Moreover, it is absolutely normal for backbenchers to have ambition, especially when a number of ministers failed badly."

He added that the failings of the previous administration were down to Gonzi's stubbornness in defending a number of flailing ministers, such as former transport minister Austin Gatt and former justice and home affairs minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

"I ask him whether my reforms were valid or not and why these were never implemented. It is evident that Gonzi was held hostage by these ministers. When Gonzi talks about personal agendas, he should explain them first and foremost. It was he who chose the Cabinet which suffered the greatest electoral defeat in Maltese history."

He adds that while Gonzi felt threatened by talented persons, other ministers were also scared of his potential.

"When people elected me in 2008 instead of the likes of Louis Galea and Helen D'amato, it was obvious the electorate saw in me someone who could deliver on a certain level. Why did Gonzi not let me work? Isn't he ashamed to have messed up all the reforms such as public transport, MEPA and local councils? How can he then speak of personal agendas?"

The Law Commissioner asked whether the former Prime Minister rues his failure to implement a holistic justice reform and the failure of a number of his ministers, which he believes were one of the major reasons why the PN lost by 35,000 votes in the March election.

"There is something very wrong with his reasoning. It is clear that he is detached from reality. Why does he persist in unfairly blaming others, myself included? Due to attacks from people close to him I still have police security behind my home's door and this is hugely unfair. This is the only reason why I am replying to him," Debono said.

"Instead of speaking about Libya and the economy, Gonzi should speak about the shambles he left the PN and the country in. This is the man who led the party to its greatest ever loss at the polls and to add insult to injury, he left behind a bankrupt party," Debono added.

On the phone messages the former MP famously sent to Gonzi at the height of the political crisis in the latter part of the last legislature, Debono said that the vast majority of his messages regarded policy, reflecting the popular sentiment of the vast majority of the electorate.

However Gonzi's insistence in ignoring Debono's calls for change were the reason why the dissenting MP went public with his disagreements in 2009.

 "At one point in January 2012, when things had really degenerated, I did tell him that he was speaking like (blogger) Daphne Caruana Galizia. For some reason he never speaks about Austin Gatt's arrogance or Stephen Spiteri's lifestyle which was, to say the least, embarrassing."

The Ghaxaq criminal lawyer who was also appointed as the coordinator for the Constitutional convention following the March election pointed out that he had forewarned Gonzi about the imminent electoral debacle back in 2009, when the PN had also lost the European Parliament election by 35,000 votes.

Debono admitted that following Gonzi's stubborn stance, he once told the former PN leader that he was "the worst politician since Count Roger," the Norman Count of Sicily who conquered Malta in 1091.

"I am serene because no amount of spin will twist history. The reforms I championed are all documented in parliament and however hard Gonzi spins facts, he will not erase the reforms I proposed from history. My draft bill on party finance, my motion about a holistic reform of justice and home affairs, my calls for a new Constitution are all documented in parliament."

The Law Commissioner feels aggravated for having proposed various institutional reforms ranging from justice and the home affairs sector to party financing and from public transport to State broadcasting.

"Doesn't he feel humiliated that he did not implement a justice reform in nine whole years? Doesn't he feel let down by the people he surrounded himself with? He should be grateful that I granted him a lot of time, time which he did not deserve."

In Sunday's interview, Gonzi pointed out that his preferred mark of success was Malta's involvement in the Libyan conflict. In February 2011, Malta broke off its friendship with Gaddafi from one week to the other to join an international alliance of Atlantic and Gulf States supporting the Libyan uprising.

However, Debono said that despite taking a stand against Gaddafi, Gonzi was the last Western leader to visit and hug the deposed dictator.

"Gonzi was so naive to go to Gaddafi when other western leaders seem to have got cold feet. I recall Gonzi's delegation coming back in fits of laughter from Libya because Gaddafi had a Pif Paf spray bottle on his desk. Moreover, he pointed out that Malta was only fulfilling its duties in receiving evacuated persons from Libya, given that Malta was the safest and closest port of call."

He points out that Malta's vocation to assist troubled neighboring countries dates back to the 1853 Crimean War and although Gonzi was nowhere around back then, Debono says "Malta had already earned the title of nurse of the Mediterranean. It has nothing to do with Gonzi but with our geographical position and our generosity.''

On Gonzi's claims that the country's financial health was secure, Debono said that the former PN leader should have also explained that his finance minister, Tonio Fenech, was hopping from one scandal to another, in clear reference of Fenech's involvement in a number of embarrassing situations.

In 2010, the former finance minister's private secretary Noel Borg Hedley had admitted to receiving bribes from Peter and Jeffrey Montebello of JPM Brothers, in the form of donations to the campaign for Fenech, in return for reducing fees owed to government departments.  

A year earlier, Fenech had accepted an invitation to accompany businessmen Joe Gasan and George Fenech on the latter's private jet to watch an Arsenal match in Spain, in clear breach of the Code of Ethics.

"Moreover, what credibility does Gonzi have in taking credit for the country's solid finances when the Nationalist Party's finances are in such a bad state?" Debono said in reference to the PN's reported debt of €8 million.

"My message to Gonzi is that I wish him and his family well, and I hope that one day we could meet for a coffee, however he must be more objective in his declarations, and we must all strive for national reconciliation. We must let bygones be bygones, leave aside personal agendas and be more objective," Debono said in reconciliatory tone.