Franco Debono to vote in favour of government in vote of confidence

Additional reporting by Miriam Dalli.

Franco Debono has told MaltaToday he will definitely be voting in favour of the government this evening in a vote of confidence “as long as the essential reforms do take place”.

"It is a positive thing that someone carried the responsibility," Debono said, referring to the recent resignation of minister of Home Affairs Carm Mifsud Bonnici after the MP voted in favour of the Opposition motion of resignation.

But in a reaction to Nationalist MP Charlò Bonnici's comments, who told MaltaToday on Sunday that the "doors should be closed with the keys thrown away into the deep sea" with respect to Debono, the rebel backbencher said that unlike Bonnici he had not been elected through a by-election, and that he had "garnered double Bonnici's vote count on my own steam".

Bonnici told MaltaToday on Sunday that he believed that by "voting with Labour to oust one of our ministers, Debono had crossed a line that should never have been crossed".

Debono also lashed out at Bonnici's "sense of team spirit", claiming that as the personal assistant of PN candidate Louis Galea, he backed out of the electoral campaign only weeks before the election, resulting in "one of the greatest hardships Galea faced during his electoral campaign".

In a reply to Debono's comments, Charlò Bonnici said he would not be threatened into silence. "I won't be threatened into silence by such regurgitated allegations. Aren't we living in a democracy where everyone is entitled to his opinon?"

On Sunday Bonnici echoed comments earlier last week by Beppe Fenech Adami who said Debono had "burnt all bridges" with the PN and "seriously jeopardised his position".

"I believe that by voting with Labour to oust one of our ministers, Franco has crossed a line he should have never crossed," Bonnici told MaltaToday.

Bonnici was adamant that Debono's position within the PN had now "definitely become untenable".

"There is no aim of leaving any doors open. They should just be closed with the keys thrown away into the deep sea... at least this is what I think should happen," he said.

Bonnici and Fenech Adami may be unabashed about their forthright views of Debono. But MPs like Francis Zammit Dimech and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando have taken a more neutral approach, while government whip David Agius and Edwin Vassallo have adopted a more conciliatory stance.

Both Pullicino Orlando and Zammit Dimech told MaltaToday that it wasn't up to them to decide where Debono now stood with the parliamentary group. "He stands as an MP," Zammit Dimech said. "It is not up to me to determine whether his position is untenable or not."

Former minister Zammit Dimech added that it had nothing to do with 'burnt bridges': "Bridges are burnt, bridges are rebuilt. The issue here is that each action has a consequence. We create our own actions and we must face the consequences of our actions."

On the other hand both Vassallo and Agius insisted the PN's door will always remain open for the maverick MP, but it all depended on what Debono wanted to do.

"Whether he's untenable or not will be determined by how he votes tomorrow evening in parliament. However, I can assure you that the door for Franco will always be open from my side," Agius said.

Comparing himself to the proverbial bridge, Agius said that his "had not been burnt".

But Charlò Bonnici's mistrust of Debono is now more than evident. Bonnici had been one of several MPs who during the Mifsud Bonnici motion equated a vote against the minister to a vote against "my colleagues and I".

"My assessment of the feeling within the group after the vote was that everyone felt betrayed by what Franco did," he said, and referred to comments passed by Debono at Mifsud Bonnici right after the vote, in which the MP told the minister: 'That's what you get for badmouthing me with the Chief Justice'.

"It did not make things easier," Charlò Bonnici said.

Whip David Agius conceded that a number of MPs felt betrayed by Debono: "I could feel anger and pain and he did burn some bridges here and there. Some have been hurt by his stand. However, I have always been, and will continue to be, at his disposal for talks for as long as he wants me to."

Agius also confirmed that since Wednesday, the two have remained in contact over tomorrow's vote.

Agius remains optimistic that the party will find a solution to what has been described by Pullicino Orlando as an "irreconcilable difference" between Gonzi and Debono.

But irrespective of whether government will secure its majority tomorrow, MPs have argued it cannot be held hostage any longer by its one-seat majority. One government MP who has been consistent on this is Pullicino Orlando. 

"I believe that when there are irreconcilable differences between a prime minister and one of his MPs, the best way forward is to call early elections," Pullicino Orlando argued. "A threat emanating from a one-seat majority that comes into play every time this difference crops up, is not beneficial for government."

But he stands alone on this one, as other MPs insisted that as long as the confidence motion is approved, the Prime Minister shouldn't call early elections.

"The PN was elected to govern for five years," Bonnici told MaltaToday. "The Prime Minister is duty-bound to lead the country until the end of the current legislature. It does not mean that the government should remain hostage by one MP. It means that everyone has to shoulder their responsibilities for anything that might happen that goes against what the electorate voted for in 2008."

On his part, Zammit Dimech says government's eligibility is not only determined the electorate's mandate but also by establishing that it enjoys the confidence of the majority of parliament.

"It has been elected by a democratic mandate and has survived more than one confidence motion, as money bills approved also constituted a show of confidence. The Prime Minister has now called for another vote of confidence. If approved, it would be highly irresponsible of the Opposition if it keeps harping on the issue," he said.

Part of this story appeared on page 1 of MaltaToday on Sunday, 2 June 2012.