Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday threw down the gauntlet and challenged his government to give him an outright vote of confidence this evening.

It is clear. The Prime Minister is obviously referring to rebel MP Franco Debono. If Dr Gonzi’s words are to be taken literally, he expects Debono to toe the party line and vote in favour of the motion and not abstain.

The whole political crisis was kicked off when Dr Debono abstained in a motion of no confidence tabled against Transport Minister Austin Gatt and since then, the country has been slowly gearing up as election fever takes hold.

Last week, Dr Debono voted in favour of a PL motion of censure – which was subsequently amended – against former Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici. He has since resigned.

This week, the usual humdrum Sunday political speeches were fiery, with both leaders (and other speakers) in what was clearly, a highly charged mood. The way forward is clear. Dr Gonzi has seen out procedure and saw one of his own party rebel against a minister. The PL says that Dr Gonzi is clinging to power. The PN says Joseph Muscat wants power at all costs. Are they both right; or wrong? Well, the truth is probably that both are going overboard in their statements. Of course the government wants to stay the full term. It has performed quite well, especially in terms of finance, economic growth and weathering the eurozone crisis. It knows that the PL has peaked early and that it stands the chance to recover lost ground as more time goes by.

On the other hand, who could blame the PL? Of course they want to be in government. They believe they have the leader, team and unity to do it. They have a different idea of how wealth should be distributed (though we remind them that we still don’t know what it is) and they want to be able to do it.

So yes, both are right; and both are exaggerating their claims. As usual, the electorate has been drawn in – hook, line and sinker. Everyone is talking up the chances of an early election and those who used to say they were staying away from the polls are now talking about why they have changed their mind and are going to cast their vote after all.

It is clear, Dr Gonzi needs an outright majority tonight. He needs Franco Debono’s vote. In what he has said, he is making it clear that the speaker’s casting vote would not be enough for him to say that he enjoys the Government benches’ and the Parliament’s support.

We, however, believe that the PM is making this his government’s ‘last stand’. If he gets through this, then he expects to be able to lead all the way to scheduled polling time. If not, then he will call the early election which has been dangling over everyone’s head for what has now been months on end. Either way, the future of the government will be decided tonight.