It is said that the only structure on earth visible from the moon is the Great Wall of China. But the next time anyone lands there, this myth could be shattered. I will not be surprised if the astronauts report spotting Franco Debono from there as well.

Hyperboles apart, his conceit knows no bounds, and each time I think that he has reached the ultimate in self-praise and self-importance, he goes one step further.

That he wanted to be appointed a minister was no mystery; and barely an hour after the Prime Minister – rightly so – left him out of the Cabinet reshuffle, he declared war on Lawrence Gonzi and what Dr Debono described as the oligarchy that Dr Gonzi leads.

We later learned, from fellow Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami, that the Ghaxaq village lawyer had set his sights on even bigger things; he wanted to become Prime Minister.

Maybe we should decide to kill the issue once and for all by naming him President of the Republic.

I just hope he realises that I am being sarcastic, and not take this comment – and the headline – literally. People who have a very high opinion of themselves, as Dr Debono invariably does, many times do not distinguish between a serious remark and sarcasm, often mistaking criticism for praise. So I’d better make things clear, lest he starts calling for the removal of George Abela and be installed as Head of State instead of him.

Like a child who has not been given a toy he craves, Dr Debono has been on a rampage – hitting at those who, in his opinion, should be removed from their position, one in which he thinks he can do better. He believes that he is the right man for the job – and he’s mentioned several of them – and that he is the solution to all our problems.

Austin Gatt and Carm Mifsud Bonnici have been his favourite two targets – even before the 6 January Cabinet changes – but he has also attacked others, including many other colleagues on the same side of the political fence. Nobody can do it right; only he can.

When it came to crunch-time, however, he chickened out of voting against his own party in the vote of no confidence motion presented by the Opposition. He chickened out a second time when Dr Gonzi called his bluff and opened up the PN leadership race. The Ghaxaq village lawyer did not contest, and Dr Gonzi obtained more votes than he did when he was elected leader for the first time in 2004.

I would have loved to see Dr Debono obtain just 22 votes out of a possible 900 – my question is whether he would have got the message. He is probably too engrossed with loving himself and his personality to understand.

This past week he was at it again.

He first aimed his guns at Malta’s Ambassador to the European Union, Richard Cachia Caruana, urging him to stick to his job or contest the election. A day later, it was Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil’s turn to be a target, as Dr Debono said that the Prime Minister should not have appointed Dr Busuttil a special delegate as the appointment should have been given to him (Dr Debono).

Minister, prime minister, special delegate: you name it, Franco Debono wants it.

I just wonder that he did not lash out at Mgr Prospero Grech when he was named Cardinal. And I’ve heard Barack Obama is thanking his lucky stars that Dr Debono is not American.

Again, I must point out that this is another sarcastic remark, just in case he starts setting his eyes on the Vatican or the White House.

He is now claiming that what he did was bring about the change that was needed in the PN. He believes he was the catalyst for major fundamental and important reforms in the party and in the government, he told The Times. Maybe we’ll soon find out that in another life he was the one who invented the wheel.

A few weeks ago I saw him in court. I wanted to avoid him, but I just couldn’t, standing as he was like a mobile statue right in the main passageway, receiving pats on the back, handshakes and prosits. I remember almost expecting people to genuflect as they walked by.

Naturally, he did not have nice words for me, since I’ve been criticizing his behaviour for quite a while. And I was not surprised that it turned out to be almost a monologue, given that he talks a lot but doesn’t allow others to speak that much. Or at best, he allows them but does not listen to what they are saying.

The subject? Naturally, it was mostly the usual boasting about how good he is and that he was always good, even when he was a little boy. Yes, he did mention his Form II St Aloysius College report.

While talking to him, I remembered another incident when, during a telephone conversation a few days before Christmas 2010, I kept telling him that I needed to rush to hospital as my father had suffered a heart-attack, but he was oblivious to what I was telling him as he kept blabbering on for a good 20 minutes. At the time of that phone call, I kept thinking to myself – “is this guy listening to what I’m saying?” But he wasn’t. Maybe I should not have been polite at the time, and I should have hung up and switched off the phone.

Dun Karm’s most famous poem is “Il-jien u lil hin minnu” (Myself and beyond myself). If Franco Debono were to be a poet, he would write a poem called “Il-jien, il-jien u il-jien” (Myself, myself and myself).

I just hope I’m not giving him any ideas to start clamouring to be named Malta’s national poet too.

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