Zebbug PN backbencher Philip Mifsud has reportedly been “told off” by his party for hitting out at fellow MP Franco Debono over his antics in Parliament last December: when Debono walked out ahead of a vote, embarrassing government and leading to Speaker Louis Galea having to use his casting vote.
Senior PN sources have told this paper that Philip Mifsud was called into the PN headquarters on Monday morning following the scathing remarks he made to MaltaToday last Sunday about what he described as “preferential treatment” to Debono.
In his comments, Mifsud stressed that accommodating Franco Debono after his stunt in Parliament was a “very dangerous precedent”, and added that “God forbid this attitude continues to spread among the rest of us, because MPs will simply start to subject government and the Prime Minister to blackmail.”
While Philip Mifsud could not be contacted yesterday, senior PN officials confirmed that the Zebbug MP was ‘told off’ for what he said in MaltaToday.
Philip Mifsud was reportedly told bluntly by PN secretary general Paul Borg Olivier: “Your comments have caused more harm than good.”
Asked to react to Philip Mifsud’s comments, another Zebbug PN backbencher, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, said with regard to Franco Debono: “I do not discuss or judge my colleagues’ actions and motives publicly. I may, after all, not be fully cognizant of Debono’s reasons for his actions. I have been in constant contact with Dr Debono over the past weeks to show him my support.”
Pullicino Orlando – who this week also questioned Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s move to nominate Speaker Louis Galea to the European Court of Auditors – stressed that the issues raised by both Philip Mifsud and also Franco Debono about the backbenchers’ role in Parliament were important.
“I am sure that it would be beneficial for government to utilise the energy and talent present in the backbenches better. In this I am in full agreement with Philip Mifsud and Franco Debono.”
Another outspoken PN backbencher to comment was Robert Arrigo who insisted that Philip Mifsud was “perfectly correct” to point out that the backbench is completely unutilized.
“Frankly it is much better to write an article and have it printed in the papers rather than making a speech in Parliament,” Arrigo said.
However, the Sliema MP stressed that he does not believe that there is any blackmail towards government or the Prime Minister. “All the backbench wants is an inclusive PN parliamentary group, nothing more, nothing less,” he said.
Robert Arrigo said that the nomination of Louis Galea to Luxembourg was a “surprise,” prompting the question if the next Speaker would be of the same “stature and calibre.”
Former minister Jesmond Mugliett explained that the PN backkbench has a goldmine of experienced and resourceful people, including a number of former ministers.
He went on to comment that when asked by a senior PN official of what role could he (Mugliett) aspire to have from the backbench, he replied: “A good coach would know the qualities and the talents of all his players and he would use them where it was more than obvious.”
Mugliett lamented that an MP from the government side was not even heard, to the extent that when during an intervention he challenged Mepa to collect black dust samples from his garden in Tarxien, to date nobody has come forward.
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