Louis Galea’s possible comeback leads Franco Debono to take advantage of Gonzi’s one seat majority
A rampant rumour about Louis Galea being ‘encouraged’ to contest the by-election on the sixth electoral district with the promise to be offered a ministerial post, was indicated to MaltaToday as the motive behind backbencher Franco Debono’s flare-up in parliament last Monday night, that led to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s embarrassment, having the Speaker exercise his casting vote.
Franco Debono remained mysteriously out of reach all throughout yesterday, leaving Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi without any specific reason as to why he refused to attend the parliamentary vote last Monday night.
“I don’t know what happened to Franco, but he has not contacted me, nor have I spoken to him. If and when I hear from him, I will let you all know,” was all the Prime Minister could tell his parliamentary group yesterday evening that convened at Castille. Meanwhile, close aides to the Prime Minister were reported to be desperately trying to trace the renegade backbencher who kept his phone off all day and was neither at home or at his office.
Meanwhile, PN Parliamentary Whip David Agius categorically denied reports in the labour media that the PN was putting any pressure on Franco Debono to resign. He also said that it was untrue that the parliamentary group meeting was summoned in an emergency following the Franco Debono incident.
While the meeting in Castille was reportedly ‘poorly attended’ none of the MP’s present spoke about Franco Debono, while it was only the Prime Minister who raised the issue and spent a “mere” five minutes on the case.
Many MPs have expressed their anger at the possibility of Louis Galea being ‘promised’ a Cabinet post should he make a come-back to parliament through a by-election for the seat that is to be vacated by John Dalli who will become Malta’s next EU Commissioner in Brussels.
But contacted yesterday to react to the concerns raised about his intentions to contest the by-election, Louis Galea insisted on a “no comment.”
According to sources, Franco Debono told his fellow MP’s that he was feeling “not valued” (mhux stmat) by the Prime Minister and the PN and that Louis Galea’s comeback was “the last straw.”
Should Louis Galea be re-elected, he will land straight into Franco Debono’s constituency. After his good showing in the 2008 election, Franco Debono boasted his feat by ‘ousting’ the stalwart and Helen D’Amato, while also reducing the votes garnered by another PN heavy-weight, former Minister Ninu Zammit.
Things became more complicated these recent months as Debono learned of the PN ‘pushing’ Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi onto his constituency, while also backing Herman Schiavone and Manwel Delia as new candidates.
Tensions were high on Monday night as Franco Debono was nowhere to be found inside the parliament building as the House was summoned to take two votes on amendments to a motion on the creation of a Select Committee to draft regulations on assisted procreation. They ended in a tie of 32 votes in favour and 32 against.
The Speaker of the House Louis Galea exercised his casting vote in line with parliamentary practice to retain the motion before the House in its original vote.
The votes were on amendments moved by both the government and the opposition, but both were rejected as a result of the Speaker’s decisive vote.
The government’s original motion was later approved after the government achieved a majority, when Nationalist MP Franco Debono actually returned to the Chamber and voted.
Visibly agitated, the young MP was reportedly found in a room behind the parliamentary chamber and told his colleagues that he absolutely didn’t want to enter the House and vote until he was ultimately persuaded to enter the Chamber and sit on the government bench.
But as the PN insisted that yesterday’s parliamentary group meeting was a scheduled one, the Labour Party said it was undeniable that the Speaker had to twice use his casting vote because the government did not have a majority.
“Instead of facing the problem, government was trying to hide it,” the PL said, while adding that its interest was for the Maltese people to have stability and assistance, rather than fall victim to the uncertainty caused by the new water and power tariffs.
Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said in another statement that government’s failure to muster a majority in two votes in Parliament was the strongest indication yet of its instability.
Joseph Muscat insisted that what had taken place in Parliament had nothing to do with the business before the House and that the government’s embarrasment were saved by the Speaker’s casting vote, but this was the strongest confirmation yet of the government’s instability.
The PL leader said that Monday’s incident was also confirmation that Lawrence Gonzi had lost control over his own party, the parliamentary group and the government.
The people, he said, deserved stability in such delicate political and economic times.
While sources also confirmed that the parliamentary group also discussed the MEPA reforms, it was decided that the bill was to be announced by the end of the month and a debate in parliament was to get underway in January as soon as the House reconvenes after vthe Christmas recess.
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