But you don’t have a wife, Franco
While gassing on in parliament for a grand total of 75 minutes, after haggling for more time like a peasant in a souk, in a manner that left the prime minister unable to contain his amusement, Franco Debono told Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici that in his position, he would have left his wife out of it.
But he doesn’t have a wife, and as for his girlfriend, why, he always leaves the poor woman out of it. He leaves her in the car, leaves her in an ante-room, leaves her at (her parents’) home, leaves her behind.
Not that it’s any of my business, of course. But this other bit certainly is, because it reflects his attitude towards women, and that’s relevant given that he’s a legislator.
“You should have left your wife at home,” Franco told the minister of home affairs.
You know – quite as though Mrs Mifsud Bonnici is some kind of object, like a handbag or a burdensome tool, or an animal, like a pet dog or one of Franco’s cocks and canaries, or a child.
Yes, it’s quite common for Maltese men from a certain background to speak this way about their women, but this does not mean it’s acceptable. They’re savages and boors, and what makes it worse is that they’re not even aware of how rude they are, just like the woman I saw the other day eating lunch in Valletta and holding both her fork and her knife immediately below her chin, with her head bowed over her plate, as she literally shovelled food in.
She must have noticed that nobody else was doing the same thing. Perhaps Franco lives in a world where men speak about their wives as though they are suitcases, but he should have the brains to notice that it’s pointless spending a lot of money on a suit if you’re going to speak that way.
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I’ll put it more kindly. If Franco Debono had a wife (and assuming that she would stick him past their wedding day), he probably wouldn’t be boring the entire country, because, presumably, he’d be otherwise occupied.
Franco has a serf .
If Franco Debono were in Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici’s position, he would bring his mum instead.
Lil dik halliha d-dar.
Posta fil-kcina mal-kenur.
Even the world that Franco comes from is slowly evolving.
Not only does he come from the wrong background but he is stuck in the late nineteenth century.
A very bad combination indeed.
Vera bniedem ahdar
prosit dr debono.illum urejt kemm int ragel. sew jghidu.history repeats itself!!!
There are rumours in Gozo that the reason Franco Debono cannot stand Karm Mifsud Bonnici is because the latter has given a hard time to the former while Franco was at University.
Is it true?
Reminds me of someone who referring to his wife told me “Ghada nohrogha naqra ghax Ilha gewwa u xebghat tgerger”
allo Allo reminded me of someone who once told me “inwaqqfa tahdem lill- mara” as if she were a machine with an on and off switch.
Was Franco Debono a student of Godfrey A. Pirotta?
Yes, he does belong to a certain Maltese culture.
“It-tifel gieni l-ewwel fl-ezami. Ghaddieli.”
“Dott, it-tifla ma tridx tikolli. Ma tkunx trid tqumli ghall-iskola.”
This is all very common and I notice this behaviour in people who call the radio and tv programmes to ask advice of the experts.
The worst I heard was “Dott it-tifla ma tridx taghmilli koko”. Veru nies stupidi.
She’d better watch it then.cause he might leave her at the altar.
Il-mobile ma jhallihx id-dar imma, Franco hux?