Franco, the Christmas Grinch
This is an edited version of my column in yesterday’s The Malta Independent.
I hate having to write this for publication in Christmas week, but I am left with no choice because Franco Debono, manifesting the contempt for other people’s enjoyment of the season which Dom Mintoff showed year upon year before him, has decided this is the appropriate time to try and spoil things in a last-ditch attempt at getting people to look at him before the year is out.
It should now be obvious, even to those who couldn’t see it before, that Debono has serious problems which need not be gone into for public consumption in a newspaper in this festive period.
Those problems have to be dealt with, not coped with or worked around. If those who have been busy handling him and trying to manage him couldn’t see this one coming, then they need a basic course in personality problems.
So you get him safely through the parliamentary vote of confidence and on the budget, and then what?
Quite obviously, he comes back with new ways to cause trouble almost immediately – because he didn’t get what he wanted in the first place, which is the justice portfolio.
The thing everyone seems to be ignoring here is that Franco Debono, like others with his sort of issues, has a plan. His plan is not to have the justice and home affairs ministry split. That is just the means to the end.
His real plan, his actual goal, is to become justice minister. And when you keep that in mind, you know that the worst thing you can possibly do at this stage is to give in to him and split the ministry, because he is not going to be content with that.
The advice the prime minister appears to be getting is that he should split the ministry to save the government. This is bad advice, because the prime minister is not being asked only to split the ministry. He is being asked – or rather, ordered about by a backbencher – to make Franco Debono minister of justice.
Splitting the ministry after being ordered to do so by a backbencher on a mental bender might just about be considered acceptable by some (I can’t see how – but then I have never been one for appeasement and giving in to terrorists) but making Franco Debono a cabinet minister will be considered acceptable by almost nobody.
The prime minister should only split the ministry this weekend if he is prepared to make Franco Debono justice minister, as well as look like a fool.
If he is not prepared to make Franco Debono justice minister (looking like a fool is a side issue at this stage), then he should crack open the champagne with his family tomorrow night and politely tell Franco Debono where to stick himself and his zero-sum games.
Debono’s behaviour is neither random nor chaotic, but carefully orchestrated. The psychologically unsound are not necessarily incapable of strategic thinking, though they give themselves away by the madness in their method.
Debono is so focussed that he has even ignored Christmas completely. He hasn’t said to himself that now isn’t the best time for his antics, when we prefer to forget about politics and about jerks like him, and celebrate.
This has never been about Austin Gatt or Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici or the budget or the prime minister or democracy or what have you.
It was and is about Franco Debono having decided back in 2008 that he was going to be justice minister before the term was out, and then coming up with ways to achieve that personal goal.
First he tried to impress the prime minister with his clever ideas. When that didn’t work, he tried pulling law-and-justice-related stunts to win the admiration of the public, which would in turn create pressure on the prime minister, he thought, to put him in charge of the relevant ministry.
And then when that didn’t work either, he began telephoning and brow-beating people at all hours of the day and night, with no respect for their privacy, home life or good manners.
When even that failed, as was right and proper, Debono went headlong into battle, first threatening to collude with the Opposition on the matter of Austin Gatt and the confidence vote, then creating the impression that he would vote with the Opposition on the budget.
When he was given time to speak in parliament, he spoke about justice matters, not public transport. Even a blind, deaf and dumb person should have worked out by this time where he was headed.
Now here he is, giving the prime minister an ultimatum: if he doesn’t split the ministry of justice and home affairs (and make him minister of justice), then Debono isn’t going to support the prime minister.
Even those who doubted his need for help should have woken up to just how serious Debono’s issues are, how grave his detachment from reality.
People quoted in the press have been listing the reasons why the prime minister shouldn’t give in. Do they really need to be listed? To my mind, there is absolutely no question of the prime minister giving in, for roughly the same reasons that it is standard practice not to negotiate with terrorists.
Apart from those reasons, there is the primary one that it is the prime minister, and not a jumped-up backbencher with issues, who is the boss and calls the shots, and this should be made clear to all.
This is no longer a matter of stooping to conquer. Nobody is going to admire the prime minister’s strength in giving Debono what he wants. He will not have risen above it and come out as the stronger one. He will be seen as having put himself beneath Debono’s feet, there to be used as a doormat.
This is the bottom line: Debono isn’t doing this because democracy dictates that home affairs and justice should not sit in the same portfolio. He’s doing it because he wants to be minister of justice and this is the best way he can think of to get that sorted.
Knowing this gives you a better sense of perspective on what should be done – or rather, what shouldn’t be done.
Franco Debono is unwell, by his own admission, and the sooner this is acknowledged publicly and dealt with privately, as such things should be, the better for democracy.
A person like this should never have been foisted on the electorate in the first place.
The Constitution is clear on the matter of MPs and electoral candidates who are incapacitated in this manner. It is not, however, clear on how the situation must be handled for the removal of MPs who are unwell. One thing is certain: you do not call an election to remove an MP who should not be there in the first place.
Essentially, the whole country is now being held hostage by somebody with mental problems. If the prime minister gives in to him, he will not be forgiven for it. And it goes without saying – though I have said it here and elsewhere – that Franco Debono will only become hungrier and demand more including, before next year is out, the prime minister’s seat at the table.
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“First he tried to impress the prime minister with his clever idea” – I’m sorry but I’m lost here – were there ever any ? Best wishes and a happy new year, to you and all your family.
His eyes are too close together.
I’d rather worry about their expression. His eyes look absent, lost and shrouded.
Eyes are the mirror of the soul.
The last four lines of that article put the whole issue in a nutshell.
If Joe Muscat is already leader of the PL, why is mummy’s boy Franco Debono not already leader of the PN ?
And therein lies the tale.
It’s what I suspect as well.
When he says that major stress is the cause of his health problems, he admits an irrational, overriding need to get even with himself.
He seems taken over by a frantic urge to project one major chip onto the leader. Does he think we prefer having him leader of the opposition when he fulfils his pal’s dream?
Franco Debono, with his precarious mental health, should be made a ward of the state by means of a legal notice issued on the instigation of the Police and Attorney General.
I don’t think that the issue is the splitting of the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry. Its about retaining the 5th District as Franco’s fiefdom.
Yeah right.
The 5th district was used to people like Louis, Ninu and Helen and their idea of loyalty, tireless work and democracy.
Franco should have been made minister because it was Franco who ousted TWO Cabinet members from his district.The people wanted him instead of Helen and Louis.
Now that the fifth district is nearly empty from candidates a lot of opportunists like Herman who came running from abroad, Delia who made the Arriva debicle and Bezzina who has never been a PN ‘tesserat’ want to contest the next general election against this intelligent,energetic criminal lawyer who always comes with the good ideas for which people afterwards always say how right was Franco.
He is worth ten Nationalist MP’s in parliament who are only good at heating their seats ! Franco gets things done.
GonziPN is sleeping and Gonzi should be left to clean up the financial mess he and Eddie money-no-problem made.
Candidates in the PN should be vetted by a special board and MP’s should be approved automatically. Those who have presented themselves as party candidates against party instructions should be excluded automatically.
Debbie Debono: Your arguments closely echo those of Franco Debono himself, so perhaps you should declare your interest.
Ministerial appointments are not offered as a reward for pushing other candidates from the same party aside. Franco Debono may have many good ideas. Being made Minister for Justice is not one of them.
I agree with you that potential candidates should be properly vetted, and not only in the PN. I disagree that MPs should be exempt from reassessment. If Franco Debono is of sound mind and personality, he has nothing to fear.
Franco didn’t oust anyone from cabinet, it seems he prefers having Dr.Gonzi do it for him.
I didn’t know one had to be a ‘tesserat’ to contest elections, sounds familiar…. are you sure it’s not ‘delegat’?
What next? A reception for exGonziPN only?
@La Redoute; I am fed up hearing people telling Franco to stop, then after Franco’s good ideas are done, people start saying that Franco was right!
Why should I declare my interest with someone who has not disclosed his identity ?
@ Jozef: in the last election Debono left his work as lawyer for three whole months to bring back disgruntled voters to the PN, he was capable of taking the votes of Louis Galea and Helen, two cabinet members. The people of the first district did not want Helen and Louis and voted for Dr Debono, for this only Debono should have been minister in the Gonzi Cabinet representing the votes which brought him to parliament in the fifth district.
If Debono was promised something from the prime minister he should get it, before the end of the year.
@debbie
Few, if any of Franco Debono’s ideas are good. He basically wants to turn our justice system into a cheap copy of the Italian model. Probably he wants to make it as easily corruptable as the Italian one, for obvious reasons. He is a criminal lawyer after all.
But that’s besides the point. Even if his ideas were the best, that still does not give him the right to impose them on the electorate. The electorate NEVER voted for Franco’s ideas. At best one can argue that some voters on the 5th District voted for Franco to be elected on the PN ticket to implement the PN’s electoral programme, not Franco’s programme.
@Debbie Debono
I did not suggest you declare your interest to *me*. I suggested you declare your interest. It can’t be too difficult to work out the difference.
As to Franco Debono himself, the quality of his ideas is not what is being discussed here. What is open to question is his suitability for public office. It is he himself who has precipitated this debate by his constant demands for attention, his unseemly handling of a situation he feels is unfair on himself, and his absurd and ill-judged pronouncements on the subject of his own self-importance.
That man is ridiculous.
The issue is Franco Debono himself. He wants to be Minister for Justice, hence the desperate ‘need’ to split the ministerial portfolios.
His long standing rivalry with Joseph Muscat is a major motivating factor.
Debono’s tantrums are because he sees this as a last ditch attempt at getting a cabinet post before Joseph Muscat becomes PM.
As if we haven’t had enough people with personality disorders in politics, mostly on the Labour side, we now have to deal with a Nationalist MP.
Great article……. I hope that the OPM read your blog.
They cannot because this blog is blocked on government internet. They can however read what TYOM says about it.
You can copy, paste and send the article in an email message to the key people at the OPM:
The Prime Minister
The Hon. Lawrence Gonzi, K.U.O.M., LL.D., M.P.
E-mail: [email protected]
Head of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat:
Mr. Edgar Galea Curmi
E-mail: [email protected]
Personal Secretary to the Prime Minister:
Ms Josephine Vassallo
E-mail: [email protected]
Private Secretary to the Prime Minister:
Mr. Charles Bonello
E-mail: [email protected]
Head of Government Communications:
Mr. Gordon Pisani
E-mail: [email protected]
My reading of Gonzi has always been that he imakes a great Coach, but lacks the natural leadership qualities to be the team Manager. Why is Ferguson the best Manager in the world? Not because he knows something about football more than anyone else, but because he has great leadership skills which allow him to deal with and bring the best out of some of the biggest egos in the world! And we cannot deal with Jes Mugliett, JPO and Franco Debono! Gonzi has a great track record on many fronts, and very few could have done better. But his lack of clear leadership and worse, his attempt at compensating for this through a startegy of appeasement and media spin, have opened him up to this sort of opportunism, very common in the world of politics.
The year of the renegade MP.
This year, 2011, is the Chinese Year of the Rabbit; next year will be the Year of the Dragon. Any ideas if these Chinese signs are affecting Debono’s psyche?
It is the year of your birth that ‘determines’ your personality. In the Chinese calendar system, 1974 is the year of the Tiger.
“Their shortcoming is to project themselves before others. They are given to deep thinking and capable of great sympathy, however, they can be short-tempered without interest with long-term endeavor. Sometimes, they come into conflict easily with the seniors and people in authority. Their hasty mind and decision may cause poor results. They are over confident and traitorous, which may result in unsuccessful communication and cooperation with others.”
The only way out I can see, is that Dr Gonzi will remove the police from the justice ministry,anytime in January.
The PN will consider Franco as an outsider if he doesn’t vote with the party line, from then onwards we will have a coalition government.
The prime minister has always the last say.
If Franco defects in Parliament, he automatically becomes minister of home affairs. In fact, I believe that if he defects, he would stay at home and would not even bother to turn up in Parliament. He’s dun’it once before.
Just the tip of the iceberg of smug fuckwitude in the Maltese legal profession.
Lawyers! I spit at them! Abolish the world’s second oldest profession, I say, and let us be ruled by the oldest. I’d rather have a syphillis-ridden whore sitting in government than this bunch of jacked-up peasants in black robes.
Prost, Baxxter. Prost.
A renegade MP does not a coalition make.
Daphne, I fully agree with your statement to never negotiate with terrorists.
However, this comes with a caveat. Experience shows that in the long run, terrorists lose out.
The problem lies in the short term. The crazy ones can inflict so much damage.
Happy New year, Daphne.
Lets hope that 2012 will not be the year in which this country falls into the hands of the birdbrained.
Franco has got to seek some psychiatric help fast. It’s serious, and the statement that confirmed his frail mental disposition was of him opting to go and work in Italy. The Prime Minister must stand his ground and not cave in to this idiot’s demands.
What is the worst that could happen if Gonzi were to “ignore” Debono and carry on as if nothing happened?
How will Debono’s withdrawal of “support” affect parliament dynamics?
I tend to disagree and take the pragmatic outlook.
Live to fight another day.
Lose one battle, but win the war.
[Daphne – Mmmm. Not much strategy there, I’m afraid. Read my article again. You’re making the same mistake as everyone else: this is not about splitting the ministry. It’s about making him justice minister. And after that, he’ll be gunning for the prime minister. You can’t measure abnormal psychology with the yardstick you use for normal psychology.]
If it was for me, I would split the ministry and immediately fill the new vacant post with somebody else like (not necessarily) Beppe Fenech Adami
And then, presumably, Franco Debono would just smile and do nothing. Right?
In another – perhaps nobler – age, he would have been given the choice between cyanide capsules and a firing squad at the end of a sham trial.
And if Franco will be appointed parliamentary secretary? Gonzi’s position will be weakened if Franco is promoted to such a post. For me, Franco should be given an ultimatum and not the other way round. Come on, Lawrence show some of your mettle with this idiot…
Much as I would like to see the PM call his bluff ….. I’d hate to see the country pushed into an early election. If there is, (and some say there is), sense in splitting the Ministry ….then split the Ministry but DO NOT make him a Minister.
Come the next election do not let him run on the party ticket!
[Daphne – You’re not making sense. If the ministry is split, then the prime minister and his government face the exact same problem immediately, this time in the face of Franco’s demand to be made minister. Then what?]
Then what? If Franco Debono continues with this charade, everybody will know what Franco’s real purpose in his mess is.
Don’t be too sure. The absurdity of his behaviour is already too sharp to ignore but some persist in believing Debono’s to be a noble, self-effacing campaign in the name of democracy.
Utter rubbish.
Then Gonzi needs to begin using his balls and show he’s no puppet to no one.
Then what? Then Prime Minister.
Franco is trapped in a cage of his own doing. He got elected because he promised so many things to his constituents before the last election, including that he will definitely be made minister, that now he simply cant live with the fact that he is just a backbencher, and an idiot one at that.
He was voted in because typical Maltese voters were asking impossible favours before the election, favours that no sane minister could or would approve. Enters Superman and starts promising everything to everyone, including Labour supporters, and sure enough he was elected.
Illejla ghal fuq Xarabank mal-mamaaaa.
I think Gonzi can split the ministry and put someone else in charge and not Franco Debono who orchestrated all this so he can be nominated as the minister.
Someone spoiled the fun for ManuMaltes; Franco is no longer his black knight in shining armour:
Malta Today http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Franco-Debono-does-not-rule-out-accepting-junior-minister-s-post
POSTED BY: Emanuel Cini — 31/12/2011 10:45:39 Next episode called HOSTAGE. Plot kept secret for 2 weeks. No further info. Sorry. In the meantime just go and get sloshed and have a great NY.
POSTED BY: peppi x — 31/12/2011 10:40:28 … and the next episode is??????
POSTED BY: Emanuel Cini — 31/12/2011 10:19:46 @fufa Eh?? And the Mifsud Bonnici clan insulted in that way? I could not happen!!!
POSTED BY: fufa — 31/12/2011 10:16:58 Tkun idea tajba jekk Dr Franco jispicca fil-Ministeru ta Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici. Ikun l-ewwel darba li rajna kelb u qattus jahdmu flimkien. (Xejn personali). Jekk jigri hekk nahseb li l- Prim ministru jkun qabez wahda fid-dlam nobis u jishet il-mument li Saliba tah il-parir biex joqghod ghal li jghidlu Dr Franco….insomma happy new year and keep the fun times coming.
POSTED BY: Emanuel Cini — 31/12/2011 10:11:28 Sorry imma b’dan it tahwid ghal pajjiz ma nifrahx, aki li din id darba ha tkun lewwel darba li ha nivvota Malta u ghandi cariswsimu lil min. Jiena qatt ma ivvutalt naha wahda biss fit 3 pajjizi li ghext dejjem ivvutajt bmohhi imma hawn ghanna bzonn bidla radikali asap!! Jekk jitla il PL li nispera li jitla bmaggoranza comda ghal istabilia tal pajjiz u jiffuckjaw, din tkun lahhar darba li novvota. Komdu naght dari lil politica li flahhar mil lahhar hija laktar haga mahmuga fid dinja…qedin naraw ezempju tagha in action bhalissa stess.
POSTED BY: Emanuel Cini — 31/12/2011 10:08:56 Sorry imma b’dan it tahwid ghal pajjiz ma nifrahx, aki li din id darba ha tkun lewwel darba li ha nivvota Malta u ghandi cariswsimu lil min. Jiena qatt ma ivvutalt naha wahda biss fit 3 pajjizi li ghext dejjem ivvutajt bmohhi imma hawn ghanna bzonn bidla radikali asap!! Jekk jitla il PL li nispera li jitla bmaggoranza comda ghal istabilia tal pajjiz u jiffuckjaw, din tkun lahhar darba li novvota. Komdu naght dari lil politica li flahhar mil lahhar hija laktar haga mahmuga fid dinja…qedin naraw ezempju tagha in action bhalissa stess.
POSTED BY: Matrix — 31/12/2011 09:56:17 @Emmanuel Cini ghidt ezatt , dak li kont sejjer nghid jien siehbi. Imma f’Malta imexxija min par idejn tal-jelly kollox possibli u m’ghandu jittiehed xejn b’sorpriza. Jekk hawn xihadd li qed jahseb li il-Laburisti inqatghalhom l-ghatx bil-perzut, ghandu zball ohxon, ghaliex il-Laburisti qatghu il-Milied jidhqu kemm jifilhu bil-kummiedja li sar GonziPN. Nixtieq il-Maltin kollha huma ta’liema fehma huma l-isbah xewqat ghas-sena 2012.
POSTED BY: Emanuel Cini — 31/12/2011 09:44:13 That headline should read thus-BACKBENCHER HOLDS ENTIRE COUNTRY HOSTAGE FOR TWO MORE WEEKS. WHO THE HELL IS IN CHARGE HERE?
“Komdu naght dari lil politica li flahhar mil lahhar hija laktar haga mahmuga fid dinja…qedin naraw ezempju tagha in action bhalissa stess.” – Emanuel Cini.
How about that from an ex-porn-star?
Not unexpected from someone who’s spent many happy hours komdu jaghti dahru.
Hmm. Does the black knight have a shining helmet too? There was enough material this year for a dozen pantomimes.