Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has no comment to give on the Constitutional Convention situation, where Law Commissioner and former PN MP Franco Debono is alleging that President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca will lead the Constitutional Convention instead of him, as had previously been the case.

While it was originally meant to be Debono who would lead the Convention, he recently said that Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was to lead the convention when her term expires in April, and has said that this shows the President has been pushing for this. Debono has hit out at this situation recently.

This newsroom asked Bonnici why government had changed its mind, and gave the lead in the convention to the President. He said no comment.

This newsroom tried to ask a follow-up question, which was to be 'what would happen if the next President disagrees with Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca leading the convention, given that the President is a guardian of the constitution', however Bonnici cut it short saying he has no comments to give.

Debono was previously asked on Indepth about this situation, and whether he thinks it is meritocratic. "The fact that Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was to lead the convention when her term expires in April "shows that she has been pushing for this," he argued.

He had insisted that the constitutional reform was all about accountability. "Let's not forget the Paqpaqli incident, in which people were seriously injured. Should responsibility have been shouldered by the President? In view of what happened, is the President the ideal person to lead the convention? I will not answer that question myself. What happened to meritocracy?"

The President has not been the only person in Debono's sights. Recently, Debono launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Saturday, calling him the "most corrupt politician" that Malta has ever seen. Debono also wrote that Egrant belongs either to the Prime Minister or to someone close to him. Asked about this previously, Debono insisted that he was making an argument, and not a factual declaration. "Brian Tonna had said Egrant belonged to him. He is close to the Prime Minister, so this all falls within the argument that I am making."