Win the respect of the people YOU respect, of those whose opinion matters most to you
Franco Debono
I have just read on timesofmalta.com that Nationalist MP Franco Debono has put himself in the news again.
This time it’s with talk of accountability and strengthening democracy. He has threatened to abstain in the parliamentary vote on an Opposition motion demanding transport minister Austin Gatt’s resignation, “unless he assumes political responsibility for what is happening” and “does the honourable thing”.
Let’s see if I’ve got this straight.
What Dr Debono means here is that if the transport minister does not resign, then he will abstain from a parliamentary vote demanding his resignation.
Or have I got that wrong?
On paper, Dr Debono’s motivation sounds nice. I would tend to agree that “the element of accountability, together with other essential elements of democracy seem to be seriously lacking in our country”.
That is exactly why Franco Debono should not have taken on Cyrus Engerer as a client when he faced police prosecution for sending private pictures of his ex-boyfriend to his ex-boyfriend’s employers.
Dr Debono is a Nationalist MP, and answers to his party leader, from whom Mr Engerer kept this important information concealed. Dr Debono, because he is required to maintain client confidentiality, could not do his duty and brief his party leader. He therefore had a serious conflict of interest.
But in deciding whether his political responsibilities should take precedence over his private practice (not that his private practice needed the extra client), he decided that they needn’t.
The result of Dr Debono’s poor, disloyal and – dare I say it – undemocratic decision is that the Nationalist Party, because information was concealed from it by one of its own MPs, asked Mr Engerer to give a keynote speech at its annual general conference.
It was then shocked by the news that he is facing police prosecution for some very compromising behaviour which he no doubt sorely regrets.
Dr Debono’s decision was undemocratic because, as a representative of the people, he should not be concealing from the electorate important information on the behaviour of a politician. If he is obliged to do so by the nature of the lawyer-client relationship, which he is, then he should not take on the client.
Franco Debono is still in a position of conflict, because Cyrus Engerer is still his client, Dr Debono is still a Nationalist MP, but Mr Engerer has now taken the Labour Party’s show on the road.
Though we all now know of what Mr Engerer has done – and I say ‘has done’ because he has never made the slightest attempt to deny it or claim innocence (and that is much better than the lying we have seen in some quarters) – Mr Engerer is on a mission. And that mission involves claiming that he was made a political victim through this police prosecution case.
When Dr Debono reads this, it will be nothing new to him. We discussed it on the telephone for the best part of an hour when I wrote the same thing at the start of the summer and he rang me to justify his choices. We ended the conversation on good terms, with him saying that a client is a client and me saying a choice is a choice and claiming that you have no choice is also a choice.
Franco Debono is free to ask for Austin Gatt’s resignation. But he should know how his action will be perceived by those who voted for the Nationalist Party and who are sick and tired of watching one attention-seeker after another use ‘democracy’ and ‘honour’ as reasons to kick up a fuss which is then feasted on with glee by the salivating wolves in the wings.
People tend to have a negative response to disloyalty, and even if they benefit from the consequences, they will still not trust that person.
Like Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, who now finds himself mired in a morass of ‘fans’ and Facebook friends who epitomise cheap stupidity and poverty of thought, besides voting for the party he does not represent, yet fails to connect this with his behaviour, so Franco Debono has not yet learned the importance of choosing your audience.
When looking to win respect, it’s the respect of the people YOU respect that counts. The tragedy of Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is that he has won the respect of those who write for and comment on tasteyourownmedicine, and lost the respect of most of those who matter most to him, including his constituents.
Franco Debono risks going the same way if he is not careful. I can tell him one thing for a fact. Austin Gatt is a lawyer, just like him, but he would never, in Franco Debono’s position, have taken on Cyrus Engerer as a client and kept the facts of the case hidden from his party and the public. And that is precisely why decent, straight and forthright people respect Dr Gatt, and why it is their respect that counts.
It is also why Mr Engerer approached Franco Debono to represent him and not another Nationalist Party lawyer with Dr Gatt’s take on correctness, decent behaviour and team loyalty.
You’ve misjudged this badly, Franco.
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Guess who will be the next favourite guest speaker on Balzan’s and Musumeci’s soap boxes ?
And the next interview by Fr. Gordon.
How many political prima donnas do we have?
Just stand outside parliament and count them :)
This is another one of those classics by Daphne. Well written. Dr Franco Debono’s approach to this issue is totally absurd. May he rethink his erratic reasoning on safeguarding democratic principles.
He should be paid for providing the Labour Party with more headlines.
He can seek all the publicity he wants, but certainly he is not winning any kudos from voters who normally vote for the NP, but if he is willing to pay the price…
I believe that the Party Executive has the right to revoke the candidacy of unstable elements such as these, come election nominations.
[Daphne – What is astonishing is that they don’t understand that they are answerable, ultimately, not to their party leader (though they are answerable to him in the first instance) but to the electorate. They throw their weight around because they know their party leader can’t sack them, without thinking for one moment that they will almost certainly be sacked by their constituents. It’s not as though they haven’t seen it happen to others.]
Is that tantamount to saying that the electorate want a bunch of boot-licking ‘yes men’ elected to parliament? In that case, it is no wonder politics is so patriarchal (or in some instances matriarchal) in this country.
[Daphne – No, it just means that the electorate wants politicians who know how to choose their battles. And more importantly, when to pick them. Also, a bus system that didn’t start off efficiently from day one is not a resignation matter, and people with sense know that. It’s not like he’s been caught with his hand in the till, for heaven’s sake.]
The party leader cannot sack them for the same reason that Mintoff couldn’t sack Lorry Sant, Not To Lose Power.
There may have been other reasons as well. We just don’t know all the machinations of the MLP then.
How does one having been touted as a successor of Mintoff, become expendable?
My personal opinion (for all that it is worth) is that the PN’s drive for “UCUH GODDA” during the last electoral campaign did not turn out to be such a resounding success after all.
UCUH GODDA. U MHUH QODMA.
Franco Debono spends too much time talking to Jose Herrera. And it shows.
I recall Austin Gatt stating that he would resign should divorce be introduced or did I misunderstand his statement?
[Daphne – He didn’t.]
I will only leave one comment: Franco, dejjaqtna u qażżiżtna!
Loyalty is an asset, independent and scarce, parcelled out among different contestants for power.
No government or nonruling group enjoys absolute loyalty — no contestant can have the whole pie.
But in the case of Cyrus, JPO and now Franco Debono, it seems very clear that all they are after is the whole pie.
Poor Cyrus, who will be put aside when and if Labour wins the next elections.
Poor JPO, who will lose (has lost, really) all political credibility.
Poor Franco, who will also be put aside by his own constituents if he carries on making trouble that nobody wants.
To all of you: I bid a farewell to your political careers. You have shown that in 2011 loyalty and respect are only spoken about in your speeches but never practised in real life.
I think what we really need is a Labour government similar to those between 1971 and 1987 (including every little thing). One week of it would suffice.
Then the PN would easily find the “ucuh godda” similar to those PN candidates the party had during that testing period, those prepared to stand up and be counted in very dangerous times, including Dr Austin Gatt and many others.
But God forbid we should have to go through even one week of that to focus our minds.
The “Mea maxima culpa” of 1996 kept echoing for 22 months and beyond.
Will we ever learn?
A word of advice to these bright guys.
Mario Felice a heavyweight in politics who used to get elected on first counts well in excess of the quota, without ever printing one leaflet or sticking any posters, failed miserably and did not get elected when he went behind the back of his party leader on a mission entrusted to him by Mintoff even though he did so with all good intentions.
[Daphne – Yes, and the same happened with Josie Muscat.]
There is only room for “yes men” in the PN, Franco, like the Mintoff era.
Why did Franco Debono choose to stand on the PN ticket? In the past three years, he seems to have had problems with the concept of loyalty.
Austin Gatt is doing everything possible to modernise Malta, and this is not an easy task considering that MLP is a major obstacle on the island.
The MLP is against change because it associates change with loss of control, so Labour looks at Austin Gatt as its worst enemy.
There may be Nationalists who agree with Franco Debono.
[Daphne – Yes, well, good luck to them. There are far more who don’t.]
A letter to a friend…
Franco,
I know for fact that you will be reading this. We had been stuck with the old bus drivers and their arrogant approach for ages. We had a system that used to compensate uncontrolled practices to suit the owners and not the ultimate customers, costing lots of money from our pockets in public funds.
Now I tend to agree that the new system has lots of problems but I also know Minister Gatt is doing all possible to see improvement by the service provider – and remember that business decisions are taken by the operator.
Dr.Gatt is an achiever and his track record speaks clearly on this. He has done what others did not have the guts to do: take on the owner-drivers and win.
This drama is being orchestrated by the Opposition and you should not be joining in when you know it has been deliberately blown out of proportion. We have been here before.
The Labour Party is not interested in improving the Arriva service – obviously, because with their mentality, the worse things are the more votes coming their way.
With nothing much else to criticise, the Opposition is reduced to going for the bus service. But how are buses a serious problem when compared to the nightmare situations among our neighbours?
If you think Malta will be better off in 18 months’ time with Karmenu Vella as finance minister and Joseph Muscat as prime minister, carry on as you are doing now. If not, then know that your behaviour is irresponsible.
Franco, you could be a valuable politician and a future asset for the party, so please do not ruin your career by playing the maverick, which would eventually harm you first, your party and eventually your country. You can be better than that.
No, Franco and Jeffrey can no longer be assets to the Party. They have crossed the line and their disloyalty will eclipse their former popularity with NP voters.
They are better suited to run with Labour since it is embracing every disgruntled person possible. Proof of this is Joseph’s tolerance and silence regarding Sant’s humiliation of him in the EFSF debate in Parliament.
The Labour Party gladly accepts loose cannon and JPO and Franco will be a perfect fit.
Unfortunately they are not alone and two or three others will complement the duo quite nicely.
Dr Gonzi should challenge these prima donnas and call their bluff once and for all.
If they think the way things are being done is so bad, then why don’t they just resign? I think it’s just a matter of ego and that honour and accountability have nothing to do with it at all.
I’m told that Austin Gatt’s main man, Manuel Delia, is going to stand for election on the same constituency as Franco Debono. That would explain a lot.
Which one?
Franco Debono, reflect on what Polion wrote.
Don’t let Labour use you to harm the party and the Prime Minister. Dr.Gonzi is the right man to run the country. The country has problems but gradually they are being tackled. Under MLP the country will go backwards again, and ruining the lives of many young people in the process.
Please use your position wisely.
Not quite the same with Josie Muscat.
As far as I am aware he retired from politics and went into business.
He eventually did form a political party of his own but got nowhere.
[Daphne – Yes, but the reasons he retired from politics were much the same.]
We don’t need another hero.
It’s almost unbelievable: here we have a party that first heroicallly rescued democracy for this country, then, in the space of a generation, transformed it from Third World flea-pit into a place with new hospitals, schools, airport, power station, roads (as opposed to ‘skart mormi minn haddiehor’).
A moribund Uni/MCAST now thrive and award internationally recognised degrees and diplomas. We can now buy Mars bars, toothpaste and pasta (and anything else). The infamous ‘Korpi’ are absolutely unexplainable to today’s youth.
And this guy is prepared to jeopardise all this progress because of a bus service that, to be fair, ain’t great?
If we don’t see the bigger picture come election time, and just vote on narrow personal issues, we’re doomed.
Arriva’s routes and timetables are not a personal issue. They’re a petty issue.
Yes, many of the complaints are legitimate, but the constant carping, whining, whinging and complaining are not. It only takes a shift in perspective to see that if that’s the sort of thing that dominates someone’s life, then they’ve really got little to worry about at all.
erm, if only one PERSON in the PN parliamentary group is whinging/threatening to abstain, then it IS an erm, PERSONAL issue, Redoute.
It’s not a difficult concept, you’ll get there.
Standing ovation for this blog-post.
A client is a client and a lawyer has the right to refuse a client when the client’s objectives are diametrically opposed to the lawyer’s core morals and values, for eg. a client who wants to file a garnishee order against a business partner with whom he has a serious conflict, just to ruin his wedding.
A lawyer also has a duty to do so when the client’s aims might run counter to the lawyer’s beliefs and allegiances.
Yes, it is a matter of choice, definitely.
Lawyers are accountable, first and foremost to ourselves, to our beliefs and values.
Franco Debono is a lawyer and Nationalist MP. He has no right to allow one sphere to conflict with the other (to say nothing of ethics).
I daresay he has no right to use his profession to let down the people who voted for his party.
I say this to the likes of Franco Debono, JPO and all the other “merry men”: we voted for you because you’re on a PN ticket. We wouldn’t have done so otherwise.
We don’t want you to topple the government or in any way undermine its stability. Make no mistake about it: you topple the government and you’re politically dead. You won’t even be successful in Labour because nobody trusts a backstabber.
And Franco, frankly, you have no right to tell Austin Gatt to resign. He’s one of the stalwarts of the PN and you have the freedom today to say what you please because it was people like Austin Gatt who, when it mattered, had the b***** to stand up and be counted.
So, please, cut the crap and do what you were elected to do: act as a decent MP on the PN ticket. Or else, do the honourable thing, and resign yourself.
And Daphe, prosit for your columns and blog-posts. You’re the only one on this cursed island to have the guts to call a spade a spade.
I may not always agree with what you say, but you have the guts to really say things as they are.
That’s why you’re hated down at Mile End. But never mind, you’re respected by people who have more brains cells than hairs.