This time around, the run up to the end-of-year festivities have been overshadowed by unexpected proceedings in Parliament, with Nationalist MP Franco Debono going AWOL when the House was sitting on Monday, 14 December.
During that session, two votes were taken on amendments to a motion to set up a select committee.
Dr Debono’s absence created a tie in both votes and the amendments went through because the government was rescued by the Speaker’s casting vote. It was only when Dr Debono reappeared to participate in a late stage of the proceedings that the original motions were approved (this time thanks to Dr Debono).
This incident highlighted the malaise that has long been evident in the ranks of the PN Parliamentary Group.
Commenting on this episode last Sunday, this newspaper advanced the editorial view that the country “has now come round to consider Dr Gonzi’s second administration as damaged goods with a short time span” and that “Dr Gonzi is increasingly giving the impression he is not really in control of things”.
On that same morning, The Sunday Times was equally outspoken. In its lead story, it took the view that “this episode shook the Nationalist Party, reminding it of the vulnerability of its single-seat majority” and went on to say that this episode “left a bitter taste with many Nationalists, who see the walkout as a childish ego-driven, blackmail attempt”.
It took a full week for Dr Debono to tell the press what irks him. He has now declared, enigmatically, that he wanted to get a message across ”that MPs had to be treated with dignity”.
The PN leadership has been even more reticent. Dr Gonzi, accompanied by Mrs Gonzi, called at Dr Debono’s residence in Ghaxaq, only to say that it was a private meeting, not connected with the events of 14 December. Regarding the merits or demerits of Dr Debono’s performance, Dr Gonzi was tight-lipped.
Last Sunday, the TMIS editorial spoke for many when it took the view that Dr Gonzi’s house call in Ghaxaq “actually increased the damage because the country is getting the impression that Dr Gonzi can be stampeded”.
From the PN viewpoint, the situation is more sinister than it appears at first sight.
Dr Debono was the first mouse to bell the cat. There are many more mice in the PN loft that have been disturbed by the cat, and who have the potential to make bold and follow suit.
Dr Gonzi’s problem is that, after long years of uninterrupted office, the PN has been showing signs of weariness and senility, and an inability to rejuvenate its front ranks. The Young Turks on its backbenches have been kicking the dust in vain and some of the old stalwarts have been largely alienated.
Sadly for all of us, the results are there for all to see. They leap out of EU and other statistics, and are tangibly in evidence in terms of poor economic record, dramatically so in the tourist sector.
The situation calls for positive solutions and a clean break out of the suffocating mould that has depressed the economy.
Malta is badly in need of fresh air that would incentivise enterprise and promote the participation of all the economic players with potential to play an active role. It has to open up to the rising generation that has been pinned down by the faceless forces of the ancient regime.
The solution lies in new thinking and in a modern approach to politics, rather than in the party politics that have led to near paralysis.
Prejudice will not alleviate Malta’s plight. We all need to look ahead, rather than look over our shoulders. The challenge is to turn over a new leaf.
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