“Hekk” Hu go fik! Halli tkun taf x’jigifieri taghmilli hsara mal-Prim Mhallef.”
When this website broke the news last Wednesday that Franco Debono had turned to Carm Mifsud Bonnici, after voting against him, and said “Hekk! Hu go fik! Dak li tieħu talli tagħmili l-ħsara mal Prim Imħallef”, some of you refused to believe it.
And I don’t blame you.
Confronted by such hdura and grave irresponsibility, the easier option is doubt. But I knew it was true, because one of the several MPs who was standing near him rang me to tell me about it, and also to say that the gesture was seen and heard by others.
Mifsud Bonnici said nothing, until this morning, when we have, in The Sunday Times:
The former Home Affairs Minister said that last Wednesday, after the vote, Dr Debono walked up to him and said: “Take that! This is what you get for badmouthing me with the Chief Justice.”
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that he was as puzzled by this outburst as those around him were.
The newspaper should have included his actual words, in Maltese, and not just the translation, in the promo story for the interview. A lot of people won’t read the interview itself all the way through and will miss them. English fails to convey the full degree of hdura.
And Debono claims not to remember having said that, because he was “so excited” at the time. I wouldn’t have admitted to that in his position. There are enough people saying he’s seriously disturbed.
27 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
How could we have let this chap campaign on the PN ticket !
What was the story with the Prim Imhallef?
I have been mulling on the same question these past few days.
On the one hand, Debono criticized (heavily) the former Chief Justice (he is certainly referring to Vince de Gaetano).
He has attacked him at least twice, saying (i) that VdG’s reign was characterised by human rights violations and (ii) that VdG and the Attorney General (present Chief Justice) “were like lovers”.
Already the last allegation deserved investigation, and possibly legal action (if repeated outside Parliament).
But more importantly, why was he attacking the Chief Justice if CMB had badmouthed him with the head judge?
I cannot understand. There’s more to it than meets the eye here.
You don’t know, I don’t know, most readers here won’t know (except Mary Mifsud), the former Minister of Home Affairs doesn’t know, the Chief Justice probably doesn’t know, and it’s doubtful that Franco Debono himself knows.
Franco has two pending cases against him before the Commission for Administration of Justice (of which the Chief Justice is a member). If he’s found guilty as charged in any of them, he stands to lose his warrant, possibly indefinitely.
Really? Do tell us more.
I’m going to keep this page open and refresh every hour to hear more about this.
His big mouth gets him in one bind after another.
Il-veru lsienu twil dat-tifel.
Carm Mifsud Bonnici’s resignation was long expected, the police force and courts need sorting out badly. Carm Mifsud Bonnici was not suitable for his position.
Do not try to evade the subject. It is now clear, from the lips of Franco Debono himself, that his vote against Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici was an act of vengeance, an opportunity placed for him on a plate by the opposition Labour Party whose record in the way they handled the police force and the courts was atrocious.
Oh that’s all right then……
The police and courts have been needing ‘sorting out badly’ for the past 25 years. Carm Mifsud Bonnici did his damnest to improve the situation in both and succeeded in many aspects as he explained during his debate in parliament.
The length of court proceedings has decreased in most cases during his tenure and the police got a lot of investment in new equipment, while the old members who were recruited in the Pullicino years were politely shown the door and pensioned out.
You should acknowledge that and stop believing the pointless rhetoric and cliches. It’ s time to accept that CMB was the victim of political expediency and opportunism.
Very true, Anglu Farrugia would have been the better choice.
“Confronted by such hdura and grave irresponsibility, the easier option is doubt”: rather than easier, I would say, it is more comfortable to doubt.
I’m perturbed by the way that grown men (and women, mind you) are bringing to the fore their own personal sentiments and pet hates and, yes, hdura.
At any rate, I’m disturbed and perturbed to see that Franco Debono had the temerity to say this in the open, for all to hear. It is not merely a question of “ma jafx jisthi” but it is a question of “he’s downright dangerous”.
With that remark, Debono showed his true colours and that he used parliamentary democracy for his warped personal spite.
Other people witnessed his vindictive outburst towards Carm Mifsud Bonnici, and it has now been written in stone that he used his parliamentary seat for his personal gain, thus bringing the process of our parliamentary democracy into disrepute.
Can our Prime Minister, with all his given rights and facts, give the boot to this f***in tosser once and for all?
[Daphne – He can, but that means he loses his majority in parliament and has to call an election. If that were not the case, he would have been out on his ear long ago.]
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120603/opinion/What-on-Franco-has-Gonzi-done-.422524
This woman is as warped as he is. Follow the reasoning: Franco’s behaviour is Gonzi’s fault, not Franco’s.
Gonzi could have avoided all this by asking Carm Mifsud Bonnici to take on another portfolio (presumably dislodging yet another minister) to keep Franco happy.
And it wouldn’t have been giving in to blackmail.
You can tell that her father made his money by running with the hares and hunting with the hounds under Mintoff and KMB. No wonder her reasoning is so corrupt and unprincipled.
Typical Mintoffianism.
They tell us Mintoff lost control of the violent element in the party, adding, a few minutes later, that he had an extremely difficult character, and all decisions were his.
It’s a blame game with these individuals. Politics as a dirty game, public opinion something to ignore, principle passe’.
Remember when Joseph proposed that corruption should be tackled by depenalising the giving of money to public officers? Only the latter to be charged?
There’s a link between how policy is created, make that cobbled together, and the agglomeration of a lobby which bypasses public knowledge. Loyalty to one’s ideas becomes unquestioning obedience to whoever holds power.
Imbaghad jaghjru lin-Nazzjonalisti klerikali.
So the PN does pass information to you. Interesting, considering that Gonzi said that the party has no connection with “these bloggers”. I mean yes, the Nationalist MPs are PN.
[Daphne – Il-Bambin maghna, kemm int injorant. The Nationalist Party is an organisation. If you have a friend who is an HSBC employee, for example, and he tells you something about another HSBC employee, do you categorise this as HSBC giving you information? That’s right, the Nationalist Party has no connection at all with this blog. If you weren’t Labour-voting stupid, you could work that out for yourself. If it were for the Nationalist Party, there would be not a word to upset Franco Debono on this website, just in case he has another episode. And what’s it to you, anyway? Oh I see, you seek reassurance that I’m paid to write against Labour, and that I haven’t reached those conclusions using my own mind and observations, because the latter reality is too much for you to stomach.]
And what if that employee is one of the directors….helll yeah they are HSBC. i.e PN in our case or part of it that’s for sure, and whenever Gonzi refers to PN I’m sure he considers his Ministers as a great part of it….halliha li ftit minnhom ghandhom poteri aktar minn haddiehor. Pero your argument is nullified the moment you make personal attacks jaqqqq, the rock bottom of society.
[Daphne – Come back when you’ve learned how to communicate.]
So we first had Luciano giving us Facebook updates during parliamentary sittings. Now we have MPs calling Daphne to tell her what Franco told Carm. Scintillating stuff by our MPs.
[Daphne – They don’t “call Daphne”. They call the press. And they be wrong not to. Don’t confuse the two.]
I seriously think that before choosing candidates for the next election the party should insist on a medical test and certificate that ‘such and such a candidate is of sound mind and memory’.
What makes you think that accomodating Franco Debono in the way that you suggest would not have been giving in to his blackmail?
I described Debono’s actions as blackmail from the word go, and everything that has transpired since has confirmed my view.
This man is insatiably driven by despicable motives, confirmed by himself in an unguarded outburst after the vote.
This comment refers to the second sentence of “True colours tal-Mintoffjani”.
Another anecdote from my mum (85 and counting) over lunch this afternoon:
“Franco must be the most hated individual on the island. And he didn’t need any help from Daphne Caruana Galizia for that. he did it all by himself.”
Franco should hide himself in some thick bush. His multiple SHAMEFUL ACTS are far beyond what would be called sane and correct.
I wonder how Franco reconciles this particular episode in his career with his much-vaunted personal motto “for the glory of God” (presumably something he picked up from his Jesuit educators)… “Ħu ġo fik, Carm, għall-akbar glorja t’Alla!”
Initially the PL had presented a motion of “censure” and this was later amended to “confidence” (or resignation if lost) motion, so much so that a Speaker’s ruling was required.
It could either be that Franco Debono is being “manipulated” by the PL or they are in cahoots, or both.
From Day One when Debono started his shenanigans, did he not realise that his political career would go down the drain, be it in 2012 or 2013; or his rancour has nothing to do with not being made a minister but a nearly rejected sub-standard thesis?
Or is he more complicated than this? If he were a calculating person, he would have considered consequences before even thinking of opening his mouth. With hindsight, the swiitched off/on smartphone, body language, mode of speaking, taking us back to the high-achieving Form II days were all premonitory signs of his predictable, and yet unpredictable, behaviour.
In years to come he himself could be the subject of academic dissertations, for various reasons.