The debate on the no-confidence motion presented by the Opposition will start tonight, and will be concluded on Thursday when the vote is taken. The discussion in Parliament will start and conclude with the Opposition in possession of the House and, in between, there will be many government MPs who will give us their thoughts on what is going on. The Opposition will only take up a small part of the 12-hour debate.
Whatever happens on Thursday, it is time for the country to be lifted out of its current political crisis and move on. If it is for the continuation of this five-year term, well and good; if the Prime Minister, whatever the outcome, believes it is time for an election, then it would be equally for the good of the country. What is sure is that we should put what has happened in the history books, eliminate the uncertainty, and start a new chapter.
We cannot afford to remain in this situation much longer.
The country has been held to ransom because of the way the House of Representatives was composed after the last election in 2008. If the government enjoyed a three-seat margin in the House, all the shenanigans we have had to talk about in recent weeks would have been treated as such, because there would have been no risk to political stability. But the fact that the government has just a one-seat majority did not leave too much room in which to manoeuvre, and Nationalist MP Franco Debono took advantage of this situation to put the government he formed a part of in a corner.
As more and more details of his aspirations come to public light – Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami last Saturday made it clear that the Għaxaq lawyer wanted to become Prime Minister and that his actions are a result of his not having been appointed a minister in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, a claim denied by Dr Debono – we are now in a better position to judge what has taken place in the past few weeks and, more importantly, why.
It is a pity that the country’s political stability has been threatened at a time when the focus needs to be on the economic situation. Democracy is certainly important, but the perceived threat that Dr Debono has spoken about is just non-existent. What is being threatened now is jobs – because instability at a time when the world is facing so many financial difficulties poses a great risk to employment, a situation that Malta has thankfully been spared, so far.