BREAKING NEWS: FRANCO MAKES FIRST RECONCILIATION GESTURE
In a gesture of good will and reconciliation, Franco Debono has ceased referring to the Minister of Transport, on his website, as ‘austin gatt pipi’, ‘PiPi Austin’, ‘pipi Pio’ or ‘pipi gatt’.
PATHETIC.
Ta’ min jaqbdu u jitfghu minn fuq l-irdum ragel bhal dan, mela “reconciliation”.
Talking about reconciliation with Franco Debono is like advising some poor twit of a harassed woman to reconcile with her drunken, whoremongering, cheating, lying, gambling, wife-beating husband.
He’ll only do it again after a a five-minute truce.
Sensible women of a certain age know that there is only one way to deal with men like Franco Debono. You tell them to go and f**k themselves, and you add graphic details on how best to do it.
That’s the only language men like this understand and the only treatment they respect. You don’t run after jerks. You kick them in the teeth.
Metaphorically speaking, of course.
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In his latest blog entry, Franco Debono refers to Austin Gatt as “Hon Austin Gatt (aka Pi Pi Pio) “.
No comments about Simon Busuttil who, after all, has agreed with Franco Debono on this reconciliation gimmick ?
is there a vacancy for a resident troll in some Christmas grotto somewhere nice?
You could do with a rest, Mr Privitera. Being surrounded by giggling might make you roll over and play human for a change.
Eddy, your ability to understand things is, predictably enough, extremely limited.
Simon Busuttil said that reconciliation is possible as long as Franco Debono accepted his responsibilities and the political implications of what he has been doing.
Franco Debono has to apologise, eat all his words and resign from parliament. Then reconciliation might (MIGHT) be possible but, of course, this would not mean that he can ever be a candidate again.
@ Eddie Privitera
Just for a moment, lets reverse the situation where the LP are in government. They have the likes of Franco to face within their ranks – With all his past and present, underhand political behaviour towards the LP.
Be honest in your response…How would have the LP and it’s supporters reacted for Franco’s treason? And please do not give me Dom Mintoff vs Alfred Sant’s altercation as an example.
It’s a whole different kettle of fish between the likes of Dom Mintoff and Franco Debono.
Awaiting your honest reply.
Simon Busuttil is a wise man. If Franco Debono wishes to reciprocate Simon’s gesture, Franco should declare his support to Dr. Busuttil as a candidate for the post of deputy leader and his support to the entire leadership and let’s move on.
Eddy, kemm sejjer tajjeb dan il-pajjiz taht in-nazzjonalisti hux. Allahares jitilghu il Labour ghax Malta terga tmur lura bhal zmienkhom.
You are still so ridiculous in your old age. Why don’t you start to enjoy your retirement.
Ghal darba jkolli nbefel gwenhajja u naqbel ma’ Privitera.
Breaking news: In preparation for a tough deputy PM fight, Franco rolls his sleeves all the way up over his head.
And that is no small feat, Harry, considering that many bloggers here seem to concur with the view that he has his head up his *rse.
Hope there’s room, Ciccio, since his cock and pony also dwell there.
Not to be a pedant or anything, but topologically, a head up the arse changes nothing. As John von Neumann said, in mathematics you don’t understand things. You just get used to them. A bit like Maltese politics.
Not just room, Harry. I hope they’ve got air. Oxygen, I mean.
Possibly a kick a little lower would bring him to his senseless senses. Assuming his balls are large enough to be targeted.
I agree 100%.
Dr Simon Busuttil knows well enough that arbitrary, unreasonable, and despotic behaviour all add up to tyranny and tyranny and reconciliation won’t ever ‘tango’.
Dear Dr Busuttil – forget it, for goodness’ sake.
What a mistake Dr. Busuttil made when he said what he did (quoted in The Times). I think it was a miscalculation. It seems from the comments beneath that story on timesofmalta.com that Dr Busuttil has lost some of his credibility as a result.
Sorry, Dr. Busuttil, but these are the facts.
I have the feeling that Franco Debono does not want to bring down the government.
He may abstain or vote in favour of the budget.
I also think that he is seriously considering contesting for the post of deputy leader.
If he does decide to contest he should be strong enough to accept defeat and support whoever becomes deputy leader.
There is no place in the PN for Franco Debono. He caused enough harm to Malta in general, to the PN, to the government and to Dr. Gonzi in particular.
There is no time or place for reconciliation now. Somebody like Debono will never accept defeat and admit fault.
His return to the PN will certainly mean a massive loss of votes for the party. This is the second Franco Debono strategy by the PL.
He cheated the people who voted for him and ousted Dr. Louis Galea, and his big thank-you for their vote was to present no confidence votes in fellow MPs and cabinet ministers.
He voted with the Opposition. He was heard telling his colleague Carm Mifsud Bonnici ‘Hekk, hu go fik’ after voting against him. His erratic and heated speeches in parliament against most of the government policies and decisions, and bringing in third parties who couldn’t answer him because of parliamentary privilege, were extremely offensive.
He continually damages the PN with his frequent ranting appearances on One TV and with what he writes on his website, where he has gathered a throng of Labour supporters. He boasts of support when he is well aware that he is being used by Labour in the run-up to the election.
His place is in the MLP skip with all the other PN rejects.
May I remind you that he resigned from the Nationalist Party and every time the subject comes up he boasts that his resignation was not accepted. Now he wants to come back as deputy leader.
Even if this so-called reconciliation might present some increased chances of a PN victory in the next election, it should not be considered from the outset, as a matter of principle, decency, dignity and common sense.
He should not be trusted even as a bottle-washer in the parliament bar.
I will lose all the respect I have for the PN if they take him back. Enough said.
If Simon wants Franco’s vote he can forget mine.
Mine too.
Rest assured that you will be voting Simon Busuttil.
Tajba din! L-ewwel Franco jhedded li “with Austin around – do not count on my vote” u issa KULHADD jghid “with Franco around do not count on my vote!”
Clearly we have learnt nothing from our previous reconciliation exercise.
The man is twisted and warped and his place is in the skip.
The Nationalist Party Executive said :“The position of the party executive regarding Franco Debono stands, and the Nationalist Party is not for turning on this matter.”
Subject closed for Simon and Franco.
An old Maltese proverb fits perfectly here: “Don’t try to make wine out of vinegar.”
Tiehux il-hall biex isirlek inbid.
I would suggest that Simon takes Franco with him to Brussels for a month or two and keeps him at his side, then we shall see if he sticks to his opinion about reconciling Franco with the PN.
Excuse the cussing but this guy is un-fucking-believable.
I cannot believe he actually expects to run for the post of deputy leader after his appalling behaviour.
He is ignorant, stupid, disloyal and selfish.
Actually, paraphrasing George Carlin, he’s the perfect trifecta of stupid, full of shit and just plain fucking nuts.
And what I find even more difficult to believe is that there are elements in the Nationalist Party who are actually making reconciliatory noises instead of telling it to him like it really is and sending him to “water the lettuce”.
Very true. Impulsively that is what one is expected to do, and not mediate towards a correctional end.
But this approach may well be a wiser way, not necessarily conclusive but perhaps more efficacious in the circumstances.
Have to hand it to Simon. Let Franco contest the deputy post which he will definitely not get.
Budget passes, election round the corner.
You’re smart enough to figure out the rest.
That’s a brilliant start for Simon Busuttil! If what was reported in The Times is correct, his sense of leadership is zilch.
Evidently, Dr Busuttil is unable to draw red lines which are not open to compromise.
How will the PN benefit from reconciliation with Debono? His and his mother’s votes?
I agree completely. Simon Busuttil makes Neville Chamberlain look like a warmonger.
It is interesting to see the Thatcherite bite to Frank Psaila’s statement, though. “The Nationalist party is not for turning on this matter”.
A tad too late, I suppose.
I do hope the PN reads and fully digests this post. Get this moron out of the limelight he so craves and out of the way. He caused enough harm already. They should bury him ASAP.
The sooner Debono is kicked out of the PN, the better.
Dr Busuttil was just being diplomatic. There is no way anyone worth his salt would reconcile with someone like Debono. As you aptly put it, a kick in the pony’s is the only way to deal with a back-stabber.
Diplomacy doesn’t work with people like Franco.
He made us go through hell during this legislature. Show him the door and be quick about it.
I don’t care if the election is lost by the PN but Franco Debono is not to be trusted.
A word to Simon Busuttil. What Franco did, he did to the PN in general, including you, even if you were in Brussels and not directly involved in the PN administration.
I suggest that before you take any more initiatives in Franco’s regard, do have a discussion with Carm Mifsud Bonnici, Richard Cachia Caruana and Austin Gatt. A must will be a meeting with Lawrence Gonzi so that he can outline in detail what Franco’s behaviour meant to him and what it cost him.
Show Franco the emergency exit.
… when flying at 30,000 feet well above all clouds.
With or without a parachute?
I like the analogy. Well done.
I am disappointed by the party’s knee-jerk reaction to Simon’s comments.
Knee jerk reaction? Standing firm on a decision taken two months ago?
It’s like Simon said, “Debono has to face the responsibilities for his actions”. The Nationalist Party agreed 100% – the consequences being his exclusion from the NP’s slate of candidates.
I am elated that the PN did not dilly-dally on making the unequivocal announcement.
Where does that stand by the Nationalist Party leave Simon Busuttil? I send you out to talk in my name and then contradict you. Not a good move by the party, because he should have been briefed beforehand. Very bad move.
No contradiction at all. Read Andrew Borg Cardona’s Blog in The Times of today.
He explains the true version of Simon’s quote including the part which most of the press conveniently omitted; ‘..they should bear the responsibilities of their actions’.
The consequence of Franco’s actions is his expulsion from the slate of candidates who will contest under the NP banner.
The case was closed more than two months ago.
Neither Simon nor anyone else can overrule the Party Executive decision reached unanimously. The party has made that abundantly clear so that it will not be misunderstood by anyone, much less by Franco Debono.
I strongly believe that the PN should reconcile with Franco Debono. As Labour has taught us, a divided party can never win a general election.
It is better to seek reconciliation now rather than after the elections or in five or twenty-five years’ time.
Reconciliation is a sine qua non to win a general election.
Franco Debono is not part of the party anymore. I cannot see where the divide in the PN is about him.
I reiterate what I said in my previous comment that his place is in the MLP skip with the other PN rejects.
It seems that many people do not understand that not everyone in the PN agrees with the present stance.
If Franco Debono has anything to offer it’s his call. What matters is what he has to offer, not his person. We’ve seen his character, with all its faults, simply not fit to represent others, assume responsibility for his actions or agree to any compromise.
He seems at ease being the loose cannon, extreme in language and totally inept at maintaining a following. There’s no principle involved, just reaction, ambition and posturing, weaned on overpoliticised Italian TV where politicians had become regular fixtures.
I was one who gave him the benefit of the doubt, genuinely concerned at why he didn’t show up in parliament three years ago. When an isolated incident became his style, and seeing what his mutterings on his blog amount to, zilch, he put himself out of any consideration.
This has to be laid out clear, if he has anything to give, let him, but under no circumstances should he be led on to believe that somehow his ways are effective. If as he said, his struggle was for radical reforms, accountability and what have you, he’s part of the closure of this chapter, he can’t expect to take centre stage following four years of turmoil.
Too much at stake if his method’s acknowledged, let alone rewarded, the country’s already seen it happen. NO THANK YOU.
It’s expected that he gracefully stand back, vouch all his support, and let the PN go about its business; synthesis.
Franco’s in the way.
Unless this is exactly what he tries to avoid, having no excuse to justify conflict and a total neglect of his duties. Where’s his work to the job he was supposed to see through in the opm?
Paroli wahdu.
Well, Simon Busuttil seems to be encouraging him. What can one say about that?
For a potential future PM to even talk like this shows either a serious lack of principle or even worse, a weak character.
Oh shit! Is Debono already back in the news?
I thought the respite Dalli provided would last a little bit longer.
Where’s Eddy “The Oracle” Privitera?
http://www.francodebono.com/2012/11/02/simon-just-spoke-of-reconciliation-in-general-i-cant-understand-the-pn-statement/
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121101/local/pn-stands-firm-as-busuttil-says-not-against-reconciliation-with-franco-debono.443630
And now, this:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121102/local/jpo-pn-has-humiliated-simon-busuttil.443635
Franco,
If the PN accepts you back in the party after what you did and said in the last year I and my family will never vote PN again EVER.
Guzeppi tal-Mosta
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121102/local/jpo-pn-has-humiliated-simon-busuttil.443635
Oh, JPO get a life. It’s YOU and FRANCO DEBONO who have humiliated the PN. And Simon Busuttil has humiliated himself.
Simon Busuttil is far-sighted. Accepting Franco Debono to contest the deputy leader election will humiliate Dr Debono himself.
If you can perceive the contest’s outcome you will agree with Dr Busuttil.
Show him diplomacy and feed him to the dogs. He will be lucky if he get two votes in the deputy leader election.
[Daphne – The mistake made by people who think this way is to forget the wider audience outside, who will regard this transparent move with contempt, and see it as opportunistic, undignified and unprincipled, causing further loss of respect for the Nationalist Party. Worse still, the people who would see it that way are those who are already sick to the eye-teeth of the Nationalist Party, and for whom this would be the last straw. The time for these games is long over. People will now not see them as smart and cunning, but as last-ditch and ludicrous.]
What the lady means is that Simon, in the poshest voice he can muster, is asking Franco “how much rope would you like,sir?”
Time to get a grip, before the goons take a grope.
Issa ghax qed ihossuhom telliefa jridu ir-rikonciljazzjoni.
Jibilghu il-paroli zejjed li ghamlu, isewwu l-hsara u jirrangaw l-umiljazzjoni li gaghlu l-Primministru u l-Partit isofru u mbaghad forsi naraw.
Rikonciljazzjoni, my foot! Troppo tardi.
Forget his blog and pipi Gatt, what had made my blood boil was the vulgarity Debono displayed whilst addressing the Prime Minister in parliament back in February.
Simply unforgivable.
Making up with this guy at this stage is not an option. He crossed the line ages ago.
Franco should go quietly. Reconciliation, if at all possible, is a very distant possibility.
Dr Simon Busuttil has still to learn not to make statements that can be misconstrued as an attempt to reverse single-handedly the collective decision of the Nationalist Party Executive.
He is young and hopefully many years to acquire that elementary wisdom.
There are ways and ways how to deal with rattlesnakes – offering them your hand is not one of them.
[Daphne – Simon Busuttil is conciliatory, yes, but he is certainly not young. He is 44, a good age at which to be taken seriously.]
To a healthy octogenarian like me, 44 years would be quite “young”.
[Daphne – Yes, but these things are relative. David Cameron is 46 and became British prime minister at 43, and nobody calls him young, because he really isn’t.]
such condescendence!
“Dr Simon Busuttil has still to learn not to make statements that can be misconstrued ….”
Even our ex in Brussels, John Dalli, has still not learnt this at 64+ !
Reconciliation is impossible with a person like Franco Debono.
It is like thinking that you can revive a gangrenous limb when the obvious answer is to amputate it.
The sooner the party brass and Dr Busuttil understand this, the better it will be for everyone. Dr Franco Debono must be cast out and all doors barred in his face.
Vote Simon, get Franco? No, thank you.
Simon Busuttil has just discovered the perils of Maltese phone-ins.
You are asked a stupid question, and what with the stupid host butting in, and the equally stupid topic of discussion, it’s very hard indeed not to give a stupid answer.
The mature, diplomatic answer to that stupid phone-in question would have been to inform the questioner that an answer did not lie with any one individual but with the responsible National Executive. End of palaver.
Correct. But then the host would quip “Imma int, Doktor Busuttil, x’tahseb? Eh? X’tahseb int?”
And Kullhadd would trumpet BUSUTTIL JAHRAB MILL-MISTOQSIJA
I am ignorant I know but what is the difference between Franco call Gatt “(aka Pi Pi Pio)” and the protestors calling Zammit “Pulcinell”?
Could Gatt get the police involved?
[Daphne – The difference is not in the insult, but in the insultee.]
The Nationalist Party must never imitate Joseph Muscat in scraping the barrel to retrieve every possible scrap of dirt to pad his electoral list.
There will be a hell to pay later for that rank dishonesty.
The Nationalist Party does not need any skip in which to receive recycled refuse.
How is it that another part of what Simon Busuttill said, that is, “”I am not saying that people should not assume their responsibilities. If I make a mistake, I will shoulder my responsibility, but even in shouldering responsibilities, there are still ways for unity to prevail over division, and the people would like to see such unity,” is being left out completely. I think Simon’s comment is not being understood completely.
[Daphne – I left it out because if I were to begin commenting on it, I would find it hard to stop. Mistake? Is Maltese culture unique in failing to distinguish between deliberate acts of evil intent and mistakes? The two are patently different, which is why language and the law differentiate between them. Franco Debono made no mistakes. He deliberately committed grave acts with the specific intention and goal of harming others and furthering his own interests. In deliberately committing these grave acts, he showed absolutely no regard for the peace, harmony and order of life among the wider public.]
Ah! But this is an excellent example of the limitation of our pidgin patois. Simon Busuttil was speaking Maltese.
Maltese has no word for “deliberate act of evil intent”. So we are forced to use “zball”. Also, “hazin” can mean “evil” or “erroneous”. Hello confusion my old friend.
I don’t want to come across as covering Simon Busuttil’s arse, because he can do it well enough himself. But for god’s sake, to trip over a turd like Franco Debono on the way to the tournament of a lifetime!
Baxxter, it’s not just what he said that made people jump instinctively. Don’t get me wrong and I am not saying that Simon is acting on his own initiative but this isn’t the right time to make suggestions outside party lines.
We have had enough of individual, prima donna behaviour by Franco Debono and JPO and any mere hint of such behaviour is going to put people off.
It’s getting better and better!
You couldn’t describe the situation better, Daphne. Well said.
The PN are experiencing a surreal situation after Dr. Busuttil’s statement. It’s a ‘Catch 22’ dilemma. Whatever the outcome may be, escape is impossible.
By the way, you are all wrong about not giving him a chance.
If he consistently proves over a reasonable length of time, say five years, that he can behave, then by all means let him back in.
Simon should bear in mind that he will be used by those who twist everything out of recognition to challenge the current leadership. Jeffrey’s statement is a case in point.
Simply because there’s mention of the ‘siege mentality’ as expounded by Saviour, Dalli et al, will not bring about consensus. Moulding the party according to Maltatoday’s agenda would incur a blank copy of Joseph’s compromise.
What we have is a number of individuals who’ve positioned themselves in the ‘centre’, a lie, and whose personal interests dictate which side to take.
The risk here is alienation of the average voter. We’re not Italy where politics, reduced to constant party maneouvering, has resulted in polls indicating popular consent at an all time low, 4% trust, 47% abstention rate, is not what we look forward to.
If anything, Simon should indicate reconciliation with Franco’s voters, and see why they voted for Franco in the first place.
His districts are two very particular, difficult, places. Voting for Franco at the time meant having someone prepared to break the detente with Labour’s insidious hold on the areas in question.
The vacuum left behind by Louis, Ninu and Helen cannot be ignored. It sounds primitive but I’m afraid that’s the way it works.
We’re not talking clientelism here. There’s a mix of business interests, environmental issues and infrastructural dilemmas which require tackling head on. Franco wasn’t up to it, and he even failed his own reforms, which is enough to shun him I think.
The PN is criticised for dragging on with uncertainty and refusing to subscribe to Franco’s grotesque style at the same time. Where does Simon stand on this?
I hope we’re not given some marketed answer made of everything and its inverse.
Dr.Simon Busuttil is a professional, moderate, trustworthy and competent politician and I do not question his actions because I am sure his capabilities go beyond my natural reactions to Franco’s past behavior.
[Daphne – Natalie, as a grown woman – which I am assuming you are – you should know by now that what you call your “natural reactions” to a man’s behaviour are in fact acquired wisdom which is there to serve the purpose of protecting you from any future interaction with such individuals.]
Woe betide anyone, including Simon Busuttil, who ever trusts people like Debono and his ilk.
If Busuttil was quoted correctly by The Times, he must be really naive and very suitable to be an MEP but little else beyond that.
i agree with a lot of the points brought up by Debono in the past year, but I think that instead of studying haiku he should take some lessons in tribal behavaiour.
A tribe will NEVER ever welcome back into its fold a member perceived as a traitor. It may be done “on the face of it” but what has been written can never be erased.
I doubt that F.Debono will fall for the bait.
Reconciliation, or shall I call it truce, but up to when?
Does the P.N. expect him to vote for the budget, and then what?
I don’t think it takes a criminal lawyer not to see right through this move.
Pull the other leg.
All this hassle could have been avoided had the mistake of shifting a minister out of the way by sending him to Brussels not been repeated on the eve of an election.
With all due respect to Dr Tonio Borg, there were other suitable candidates for the post of an EU Commissioner whose choice would not have created a vacancy for Deputy Leader of the Nationalist Party.
Attempts to persuade Dr Busuttil to leave Brussels and take a more active role within the party are not new. Finally he agreed to become a candidate at the next election. And now he is faced with a stratagem, which failed in the past, to force him to contest for the post of Deputy Leader.
Is his agreement to a conciliation with Dr Franco Debono his way or ruling himself out of the contest? If so, it is bound to succeed, but at a great price as far as his standing is concerned.
Very well said!
Franco says he has support. If he really believes this claim, he should contest the general elections as an independent candidate. He might well be the first independent candidate to be elected to parliament.
With reconciliation Franco Debono should start criticising Labour. Let us see how far Franco can go.
Rikonciljazzjoni?
Mhux hekk?
Tfarrkilhom l-ghogol tad-deheb li kellhom Brussel.
The saying goes that hell has no fury like a woman scorned. It is simply not true – just look at what Franco Debono is writing on his blog since his attempt at reconciliation failed.
“They want war? They will have it.”
And that is what Franco does. Thankfully, Simon Busuttil can now see for himself how this individual sneaks up on people’s good faith and uses it to backstab them. Do I know.
If Dr. Busuttil thinks that by bringing Franco Debono on his side, he will not be the first one to stab him in his back, Dr. Busuttil is very much mistaken.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121102/local/pl-court-applications.443727
Here’s a little test for Franco, does he agree with Labour’s stand on what constitutes democratic behaviour transcending written law? Is it, in plain English, correct?
“The PN shouldn’t fear anyone applying the Laws of Malta correctly. If GonziPN wants to put its money where its mouth is, it should propose a change in legislation. Any attempt at playing cry wolf is at best puerile and at worst an example of arrogance and crass hypocrisy,” the PL said.
Simply because one can doesn’t mean they should. Yet, Labour treat laws as one of the instruments to cheat their way to power. If he were to give us a piece to this base condition of their mindset, get some flak from the usual suspects, perhaps even have his appearances on One cancelled abruptly?
Possibbli Dr. Busuttil kien maghqtuh mir-realta’ u ma jafx kemm ghajjar lil Prim Ministru bli ghandu u bli ma ghandux waqt id-diskorsi tal-parlament?
Jekk dan ma jarux, jiddispjacini, jien kont, ghadni u nibqa’ Nazzjonalist sal-mewt pero’ kull fiducja li kelli f’Simon, issa taret mar-rih.