The leading article (editorial) in The Times today
THE MORNING AFTER THE BUDGET VOTE
It is rather ironic that after the Budget failed to get through Parliament last night, Malta at last has some certainty: a general election will be held on March 9.
The country can take comfort too from the fact that there will be no more disruptions of a personal kind.
Parliament will not be used for the settling of personal scores as it has shamefully witnessed over the past year or more. It is this more than anything else that has caused uncertainty, and at times instability.
Those who have indulged in such practices can reflect on their actions in solitude and wonder where it got them.
The Government constantly urged the Labour Party to support last night’s Budget vote – conveniently omitting the fact that it was a vote of confidence – and seemingly forgetting the elephant in the room. There was absolutely no justifiable reason for a Nationalist MP to vote against the Budget, just like there was no justifiable reason to force out of office Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Richard Cachia Caruana.
What happened last night was the culmination of a terrible campaign.
Which is ironic, considering that Lawrence Gonzi has displayed more patience than anyone in Franco Debono’s regard, we would say too much; there was no one who offered him more opportunities, possibly against the Prime Minister’s better judgment; and there was no one who had to take such persistent abuse at this MP’s hands. Dr Debono has not been the unfortunate martyr he has tried to portray himself to be in the name of a valiant cause, but rather a man with a chip on his shoulder.
Members of the media will tell you – if they are honest – how doggedly this MP has pursued self-publicity; how he has spent countless hours telling them about his achievements. And as he dangled his crucial parliamentary vote as a carrot, he was often successful – probably gaining more column inches in the past year than any of his counterparts.
When he failed, which happened more often of late as his political relevance faded, he launched attacks either in Parliament, court, blogs or through other media. The limit of his diatribe has known no bounds.
Last night, Dr Debono lost no time to list the failures of his own Government. But were they really the reason why he voted the Budget down?
Would he have used the same aggressive tone and dismissed these “failures” in Parliament if he were sitting in the front bench? His behaviour is indeed a shame, since had he been rational he may have been able to contribute something positive. It is time to put all that behind us and get on with the business of living until the election campaign proper begins next month.
The political parties have both said they will allow the Maltese to enjoy the Christmas festivities in peace. Let us hope they are true to their word. Though this country revels in the political scene – to its detriment on too many occasions – it has had more than its fair share in past 12 months and deserves some respite, even if it is brief.
As Labour prepares for the race with a comfortable headstart in the polls, and the Nationalists hope Simon Busuttil’s election as deputy leader will give them an electoral boost, the rest of us can only reflect on several positive things Parliament could have achieved had its agenda not been consistently hijacked.
Let us hope we do not have to witness this again anytime soon.
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121211/editorial/The-morning-after-the-Budget-vote.449098
And read this piece by Ramona Depares, too:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121211/blogs/how-franco-helped-gonzi.449111
I think this divorce spiel is a tad overrated, simplistic even.
Why bother grumbling to a winner takes all system to miss apparent contradiction as an essential instrument to evolution? It’s what distinguishes experience, call it sophistry, from a beginner’s academic attempt. .
Does Ramona really believe the protestant ethic has taken over? The arithmetics of that referendum result require complete figures, otherwise perspective is lost. Or is it intolerable to accept, respect, this place for what it is?
Unlike Sant’s, where abstention was negligible.
“When they’re in the polling booth, this is what swingers (the voting kind, not the let’s-swap-our-car-keys kind) will remember. And they will vote accordingly.” Ramona Depares
Rest assured that there’s no way on earth that we will forget Franco while in the polling booth. It will be his birthday present. His birthday card will have the now famous ‘Hekk hu go fik’.
“Elections will be held on 9 March – a date that happens to be the birthday anniversary of Franco Debono.” – MaltaToday
Spot on.
Well done to Dr Gonzi for not falling to Franco’s continuous blackmail. Let’s not forget Jeffrey, Jesmond and John for the part they played during this legislature.
Yes, but The Times too, must carry part of the blame for what happened here.
After all, however doggedly one pesters the media, the media does not have to give in.
The Times gave in because it gave free reign to staff whose agenda it was to foment discontent with the government and the Nationalist Party. This The Times achieved.
Now that this paper wants to re-virginalise itself, is, for me beyond contempt.
When The Times regains control of its newsroom, when The Times moves away from the tabloid stance it has taken and which suits Franco stories so well, when The Times does all this, then, maybe, I shall start to take it seriously again.
As I have said once before, The Times is mlatastar and MaltaToday with marginally better syntax. Its anti Gonzi stance is there for all to see.
How ironic.
The Times often skirted around Franco Debono’s illogical rants and very often had given him the widest benefit of the doubt. They were the ones who dubbed him ‘top criminal lawyer’ when he is nothing of the sort.
Now that Debono delivered the last of his vindictive acts, the Times woke up to the reality of who Debono really is.
Nonetheless, the editorial gives a true picture of what has been happening during the last two years or so and an acknowledgment that Franco spat at every olive branch offered to him by the Prime Minister and the Party itself.
Franco Debono may have settled a personal score but so did the Nationalist Party and Prime Minister since they no longer have to put up with this super ego and his chip on his shoulder. Indeed the NP is redeemed, rejuvenated, re-energized and ready for the true race starting January 7.
Franco Debono has been reduced to irrelevancy and can go back to his hobbies in Hal Ghaxaq. He will have plenty of time on his hands now since he will have no reason to carry on with his insane rants in his useless ‘blokk’.
This editorial is too flipping late! Why this stance now, I wonder? The Times have aided and abetted him as much as any of the others.
Boycott The Times like I have done until it regains its former independent status. I had been subscribed for years but now no more. Let the elves buy it, as it’s become the MLP mouthpiece. Shame on you all!
For the sake of democracy, keep this blog alive for the time being.
We have supported you all the way to your moment of glory yesterday, but now all would be in vain as the clique is already regrouping.
From now on we will see The Times and PBS spewing subtile and other ‘not-s-subtle’ propaganda.
btw…have you read today’s Times editorial..Disgusting.
[Daphne – Errrr, David? You’re on the wrong blog. I think you must have meant to post this on Franco’s. Tghidliex, ta – dawk li jivvutaw Labour il-vera ghandhom brains.]
Hilarious!