Nationalist MP Franco Debono denied yesterday that he is being used by the Labour Party, saying that he didn’t expect anything from Labour, and reiterated that he will definitely not contest an election on the PL ticket.

Meanwhile, sources told this newspaper that Dr Debono threatened not to vote in parliament because he was not given VIP tickets to the Isle of MTV concert a few years ago. Asked about this, the MP initially said he didn’t want to comment, but he called back soon after, denying that he ever threatened the government over Isle of MTV tickets.

“However, you should look into who was and who was not given VIP tickets. This is about being given the wrong kind of treatment,” he said, adding that he had called someone at the parliamentary secretariat for tourism to ask about the tickets about two months before the concert (as do other MPs, who book tickets for themselves and their families, he said) and that he had eventually picked them up at the entrance.

He brought up examples to show that he was one of the MPs who has long been excluded by the party in government, but in a somewhat contradictory manner, he said: “Let’s talk about the necessary reforms. All this (his decision to no longer support the government with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi at the helm) is about reforms, not about a Cabinet position.”

Talking about another, perhaps less trivial incident, he said that he and Nationalist MP Stephen Spiteri were the only ones not to have been asked to give a speech during the post-election Independence activities at the Granaries in September 2008.

“Other MPs, even those who only made it in through a casual election, had been invited, and because the party realised it was a mistake, I was asked to give a speech during a political activity in Gozo.

“I am hurt because I was not allowed to give my contribution, but when I started making my voice heard people realised that the issues I was raising were valid. It is unfortunate that I had to decide not to vote in Parliament for certain things to get done, such as the issue relating to the right of access to a lawyer during interrogation.”

Asked about his political career, he urged people to appreciate that he has been going through an extremely difficult time. On Monday, he said he has been suffering and making sacrifices due to lack of democracy.

Last Friday Dr Debono presented one of his Form 2 St Aloysius College results to the national television station to show that he always took matters seriously. However, when asked to produce a copy of his University transcript, he said he didn’t know where it was. He strongly denied reports that he ever failed any exams, although he admitted that he didn’t attend many lectures because he didn’t really like the University system.