Malta Today heard what it wanted to hear, not what was said

My apologies, but I’ve been away from my desk until now despite the pressing matters for comment.

Let’s start with Malta Today and go through the rest in the morning.

So the newspaper has decided to elaborate on its report, yesterday morning, that Franco Debono did not plan to vote with the Opposition. And it turns out that he didn’t say anything of the sort.

Some people who read the Malta Today report imagined that something must have happened between morning and evening to make him change his mind. Either that, or he’s a liar.

But his intention right from the start was to vote for Mifsud Bonnici’s resignation if Mifsud Bonnici did not resign before the vote was taken. That’s pretty much what he’s been running around telling people over the last few days.

I’d had doubts to start with, given that the by-line was Karl Stagno Navarra’s and that I’m the one who wrote a couple of treatises on how Franco Debono chooses his words very carefully and how they must be parsed equally carefully for their meaning.

The Labour Party got itself into a couple of messes with those other motions because it failed to understand that with this creature, there is no scope for jumping to conclusions or for making assumptions.

This is what Debono told Malta Today:

When asked whether he will vote in favour of the motion, Debono said: “Do you think I’ll be voting with them? You can quote me on this…””

Heaven knows how they interpreted this to mean that he would not vote with the Opposition. Perhaps they took it to be that typical Maltese rhetoric which begs the answer ‘No’, e.g. ‘Mela tahseb li jien xi cuc?’ or ‘Mela jien it-tip li naghmel hekk?’

If I’d been told Debono’s exact words, I’d never have assumed he meant ‘no’. Nor would anyone sensible have made that assumption.

This is how Malta Today reported it. I’d say they’re irresponsible.

“Debono ‘will definitely not vote with Labour’, hints at abstention”

“Nationalist MP Franco Debono has told MaltaToday he will not be voting with the Opposition on the motion calling for the resignation of Home Affairs minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

Debono was in conversation with Mediatoday managing editor Saviour Balzan, in the presence of two other witnesses, when he said he would not be voting with Labour on the motion. “Mifsud Bonnici said he has resigned as Leader of the House,” Debono said.

When asked whether he will vote in favour of the motion, Debono said: “Do you think I’ll be voting with them? You can quote me on this…””

Then later on he told Malta Today over the telephone that he would not be voting against the Labour motion.

I will not be voting against the Labour motion ,” Debono later told MaltaToday in a phone-call to the newsroom offices.

So there you go.