Franco wants to be party leader, like his old classmate Joseph
Franco Debono, in the photograph his mother showed on Xarabank.
My column in The Malta Independent on Sunday, last Sunday:
On 29 December, I wrote that Franco Debono’s ultimate goal is not to merely be made a cabinet minister, but to become leader of the Nationalist Party, and that all his actions, thoughts, behaviour and strategy must be considered in this context.
People laughed or shook their heads when they read that, dismissed it as a wild exaggeration, a bit of festive fun. But it wasn’t.
I’d been watching the man for a while and things had suddenly fallen into place.
When you look back at the pattern of his behaviour, you’ll see that all his actions, even those ostensibly geared towards the reform of this or that law, have had the sole aim of getting him rewarded with a position in the cabinet.
And that position in the cabinet was going to be the means to the ultimate end of becoming party leader, like his old classroom rival, Joseph Muscat.
Debono’s campaign tactics were not particularly noticeable at first and went on mainly behind the scenes, out of the public eye. He would ring people, pester them for meetings, show them his Form IIC report card, browbeat them, ring them at all hours and send them thousands of annoying text messages.
Then his tactics became increasingly intense (and that’s saying something, given how intense they were already), focussed and public over the last year or two. But as 2011 drew to a close, Franco Debono began manifesting signs of sustained hysteria and panic.
His tactics and strategy were formed by the pressure of time running out and a general election drawing near before he had time to achieve his ambition.
By the end of the year he had thrown all caution to the wind and his panic was at its highest level. In the most public and dramatic way possible, he gave the prime minister an ultimatum: create a separate justice ministry or I shall not support you.
What he meant, of course, was ‘make me justice minister’. He needed to get into the cabinet and he needed to do it now, before the general election comes up.
Why? Because what he really wants is the prime minister’s chair, and the best position from which to negotiate the defenestration of the prime minister, he had worked out, is in the cabinet.
Once in the cabinet, or so he thought in his lost world, he would be able to force a change of leader, citing the need of a fresh young face before the general election, and that fresh young face would be him, just like Joseph.
Then it would be him and Joseph, head to head, a fight to the death between two boys whose development seems to have been arrested way back when, though it did nothing to curb their single-minded ambition and self-belief.
Debono’s crisis began in June 2008, when Joseph Muscat pulled off the stunt of becoming Labour leader and leader of the Opposition, without ever having been elected to parliament.
This put Debono’s nose severely out of joint, as up until then he had been dining out on the fact that at ‘such a young age’ he had unseated party stalwarts Louis Galea and Helen Damato. His old classmate, for whom he feels an apparently pathological rivalry, was safely in Brussels.
But then that old rival returned and unexpectedly went not just one better than Franco Debono, but wiped the floor with his comparatively meagre achievements.
What was unseating Louis Galea compared to unseating the leader of the Labour Party and becoming leader of the Opposition?
From there on in, there were going to be serious problems, but none of us out here knew what the source of those serious problems was, or even where Debono was headed and why.
All of this has become clear in recent weeks, reaching its climactic confirmation when Debono demanded that a TVM news crew film his Form IIC midyear report. Why Form IIC midyear in particular? I would imagine that Joseph Muscat knows the answer to that.
Indeed, Muscat’s knowledge of Debono’s personality and weaknesses – many of which, incidentally, he shares, making me wonder what went so badly wrong in that classroom, are a great asset to his own strategy in using them to cause as much trouble as possible for the government.
Now at last I can put that strange Labour Party billboard, which seemed to come out of nowhere and which was followed by no other billboards, into context. By replicating Lawrence Gonzi’s iconic election poster of 2008, but with Franco Debono’s face instead of Gonzi’s, they further fired, and deliberately so, his leadership ambitions.
Joseph Muscat must have worked out, correctly as it turns out, that seeing his face on that billboard, where Gonzi’s was in the last election, would make the possibility of the party leadership even more real in Franco Debono’s overworked mind.
I mocked that billboard as did so many others who, like me, thought it was a massive miscalculation and a tactic which backfired. But it turns out to have been perfectly targeted, because the sole target was Franco Debono, and it worked.
A much troubled man is being manipulated successfully. Now the country is left with the very real problem of that troubled man, who genuinely believes he can and should be party leader, all because Joseph Muscat got there first.
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I’m not an expert on politics and such strategy yet I think that an early election this coming March can actually hand over a victory to the Nationalist Party.
There are still some strategic moves to be done and these can include:
1. Removal of Paul Borg Olivier from his current post
2. Appointing Mario DeMarco as Deputy Party Leader
3. Terminating Alan Camilleri’s role at Malta Enterprise
4. Clarifying Austin Gatt’s position and plans
This ‘spring-cleaning’ exercise can come into affect with a spring election.
I think that the chances of winning the election this Spring are greater than if the elections were to be held in Spring 2013.
The only drawback is probably that should the Nationalist Party lose it would be the Labour that will inaugurate the Valletta project.
Why the specific mention of Alan Camilleri? I thought he did well with some positive investment news in the recent 2-3 years despite the current scenario.
1. What would that achieve if his replacement carries on with the same policy of appeasement of the “simpatiku u jigbed in-nies” candidates?
2. On what basis? Granted, among the current MPs only Mario de Marco has the necessary mixture of intelligence, leadership qualities and charisma u become party leader. But you forget Simon Busuttil.
3. Alan Camilleri should have been removed ages ago. Better still, he should never have been appointed in the first place. That NECC, cradle of incompetent yuppies promoted far beyond their abilities, will live in infamy for ever more.
4. Clarifying what? His position is to carry out the government’s mandate and his plan is not to contest the next general election.
Having watched this interview with Franco Debono, it appears to me that the issue here is not political but revolves entirely around the warped personality of this man.
I do not know him or his background, but I bet my bottom penny that Franco Debono comes from a background where Form Two school reports actually matter, where the rest of his extended family and probably the neighbours have always told him “kemm hu bravu”.
Inevitably, his being constantly told that he is the enlightened one amongst a crowd of lesser mortals has made him what he is today.
Normally children grow out of these feelings of omnipotence when they come face to face with reality and when they start interacting with people who do not necessarily share the irrational elevated opinion of them which their parents or, worse still, their entire childhood environment have of them.
Franco Debono has obviously not yet got past this stage.
He is confrontational and egocentric to the hilt – he does not yet understand that “being a high achiever and ta fuq nett”, as he puts, it is not something you flaunt and that flaunting it is sign of such immaturity, that “fuq nett” is definitely not your place.
My concern is not this man’s immaturity but rather that he is an MP. This means that a significant number of electors chose him to represent them.
Egocentricity was obviously mistaken for self-assuredness, while arrogance was mistaken for intelligence and drive.
Unfortunately, this is all too common in politics and the legal profession.
The inevitable result is that the same egocentricity and arrogance eventually get the better of these characters, in some cases, with disastrous consequences.
Sadly, sometimes it is the same political parties which give the decisive nudge for them to occupy important posts and seats in Parliament – a case in point is Marisa Micallef and, sadly, many others that I’ve seen enter – raise havoc – and go.
Lastly, keeping his switched-off phone miraculously ringing during a television interview is not only a clear sign of his bad manners but probably also a symptom of a serious personality disorder, especially when it is obvious that the guy was actually chuffed that his phone was continuously ringing and seemed to insinuate that Lou Bondi was envious of his popularity and of his being so in demand.
Something tells me that your mention of him on your blog, especially your insults, are also serving to further boost his already bursting ego.
This is definitely an orgasmic “month” of fame and limelight for Franco, which could very well end up throwing the country into the hands of Joseph Muscat. How sad is that?
The poor sod didn’t realise that many callers were just trying to wind him up.
Hadn’t he taken a call while in court and was reprimanded by the magistrate?
My good sources can vouch that the mobile calls during the tv interview were all part of the plan to destabilise Bondi, and were being sent by his girlfriend who was at the studio, behind the scenes.
FD is the apex of immaturity, and should realise that he has painted his political future firmly into a very dark corner. The only reasonable way out of this is for him to resign his parliamentary seat.
Isn’t that being stuck in the anal stage of development? I always thought Muscat is there too so it probably tallies.
My equally good sources tell me that several of those calls came from people who want Franco Debono to resign.
Some of them said as much on Facebook.
So that is why Dr Gonzi kept Franco Debono in the background, at the risk of insulting the voters of the 5th District who up to the last election had no less than 2 ministers and a parliamentary secratary representing them. Dr Gonzi, like you realized that Franco Debono is better than him. Yesterday’s Bondi+ showed how good he is. And showed the PN strategists up as nothing but character assisinators.
Are brain transplants possible? No? Do try a lobotomy.
I don’t need a lobotmy thank you very much. I neither suffer from a brain tumour nor from any type of epilepsy. It seems that whenever someone does agree with you, you have to insult their intelligence, but calling Franco Debono mad, and me with special needs will not get you anywhere, it only underlines your inferiority complex.
You could try a humour implant, then – or a medical dictionary.
Where, specifically, did I call Franco mad or say you have special needs?
@Life of Brian – i like your cynical way of commenting – but only as humour. The truth is – Jacky is right. And suggesting brain lobotomies is not a good way but rather an arrogant way of responding. The characteristics of a PN voter.
@Albert – What is Jacky right about?
Now I’m as confused as you are.
Ex-PN
” Muscat says Labour will act to stop instability, unless the PM does ”
” Indicates Opposition may move no confidence motion”
Joseph says he is not in a hurry but Michelle is .
Whether you like it or not, you have to admit that Joseph Muscat is bloody good at manipulating envious and twisted sad sacks and using them to his advantage, amongst them John Dalli, Emmanuel Mallia, JPO, Marlene Mizzi, Cyrus Engerer, Marisa Micallef Leyson and now Franco Debono.
He knows how to push the right buttons with these people.
Question is, how is he going to find enough sinecures for all these brown-nosers, along with the thousands of dyed-in-the-wool Lejburisti who expect theirs by right?
Spoilt brats are manipulative by nature. ‘Bloody good’ is not a boast here.
A moot point, bro. Surely it’s more a case of the LP being the natural home for chippy people/mahruqin/sad sacks? Joseph or no Joseph, they were always going to be Skip fodder.
“I mocked that billboard as did so many others who, like me, thought it was a massive miscalculation and a tactic which backfired. But it turns out to have been perfectly targeted, because the sole target was Franco Debono, and it worked”
Was it in any place that Franco Debono travelled through daily, or at least frequently – so that he would see it? If it wasn’t this “hypothesis” does not hold.
[Daphne – There were several, and the answer is yes.]
Kindly note that JPS is not me.
[Daphne – Yes, Joe, I know.]
Please someone tell Franco Debono that in Italy we have enough double-faced self- centred nincompoops in Parliament (and probably in the legal profession) – we are not exactly yearning for another one.
Oh, yes? But I bet a euro, none got 100% in religion in their mid-year exam in Form II.
You may have to make an exception and admit Franco – or else face the wrath of the EU where he will certainly raise the issue.
Not that this comment is really applicable to this blog, but what a breath of fresh air listening to Jason azzopardi and Francis Zammit Dimech this evening on Net. Two educated, articulate gentlemen who understand the value of humility and who appreciate that they are elected by the people not to serve their own interests but to serve ours.
I heard Jason Azzopardi on the breakfast show on TVM, and he reminded me of all I love in the Nationalist Party – something along the lines of “I never asked to be made minister, or even expected to, but if this is how I can serve my country then I’ll gladly shoulder the responsibilities”.
And Mario deMarco, of course, is always so polite and articulate.