It all comes out in the wash
The new Law Reform Commissioner and Chief of Constitutional Reform, celebrating the Labour victory in his village on March 10.
My column in The Malta Independent on Sunday – the link to the full piece is below.
I am glad to see that the Leader of the Opposition has spoken out at last about the thousands – yes, literally thousands – of text messages with which Franco Debono bombarded him during his campaign, when Gonzi was prime minister, to be given attention/made a minister, failing which he would bring down the government.
It’s a damned shame the public was not given this information earlier. It would have allowed more people to frame this individual in the proper context of what appears to be some kind of deep neurosis. But perhaps Lawrence Gonzi felt it would not be appropriate to reveal either the nature or the extent of his backbencher’s irrational onslaught at the time.
This means that far too many people took Debono at face value, saying that “he has some good ideas” and “maybe he’s right”, when the reality is that what they should have been looking at was his psychology.
The fact is that sending thousands of unsolicited text messages to anyone, at all hours of the day and night, constitutes harassment and is grounds for a police report and prosecution.
When an ex boyfriend, ex husband or ex lover does this to a woman, she can have a restraining order slapped on him. Of course, the then prime minister was not in a position to report his backbencher to the police or have him prosecuted even if he had wanted to, but anybody else would have done so under that level of harassment.
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http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-04-21/opinions/it-all-comes-out-in-the-wash-1430814729/
I envy your intelligence, wit and sarcasm. Alexander Pope would have been proud of you. I thank you for keeping us abreast in these confusing and challenging times.
If the amount of SMSes was published before, it would have instilled a doubt. The crux remains that in the squinted public eyes little was wrong with what he was saying. Actually his attitude was honorable in the eyes of the Maltese which support such attitudes. A case of the donkey leading the ass. General public judgement still remains poor.
I think Lawrence Gonzi should publish those text messages.
Dr. Gonzi was too much of a gentleman to make an issue of the text messages which Franco Debono sent him. That is what makes Dr. Gonzi what he is: a true gentleman and a statesman whose main aim was serving the country’s interests.
We will be forever indebted to him. Shame on those who treated him, and still do, in a despicable manner.
My thoughts exactly.
U mbaghad jigi Reno Bugeja (tal-PBS) ipoggi l-kliem f’halq it-tliet kontendenti principali ghat-Tmexxija tal-PN biex igeghlhom jammettu li l-PN mexxa kampanja negattiva.
Hafna nies strada reali l-belt filghodu f’qalbhom jghidu x’hin jarawh …
J. Dalli BA Franco
This shows how wrong it was to humour the man and not seek an early election at an opportune moment, which, in my view, was soon after Gaddafi’s death. Not facing the enemy within head-on and prolonging the agony only weakened the government.
well said…Gonzi should have done that and got rid of this narcisstic, pretentious lawyer with an early election.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130421/blogs/happy-now.466335
Couldn’t find the website josephmuscat.con though.
This is besides the subject; Yesterday afternoon I’m sure I saw you walking along St.Julian’s front. I am mentioning this because you’re really attractive contrary to those silly allegations made at you. And I had never seen you before in my life except from pictures. x x x
[Daphne – Yes, well, portraying your female enemies as ugly is part of the attack on their credibility in a backwoods Mediterranean context. Then when they come across me in real life they do a double-take. It’s quite amusing watching their faces.]
In this mentally poor country what is imporant is that the woman appears ‘hamalla’ sexy and has an empty head.
There’s been an alarming increase in this kind of ‘look’.
Daphne is not only attractive, but what is of utmost importance is that she has a ‘beautiful’ mind to keep a man (and us, thank God) entertained for much, much longer than your typical Maltese prototype.
Hence losers like JPOS, Franco Debono and…(too many to mention) and the majority of PL women, and some PN ladies too, are too stupid to understand why people are attracted to Daphne. They just don’t get it.
Franco he used to text and telephone Dr Gonzi all day long and also during the night. He used to call Paul Borg Oliver too during the night and wake up the whole family.
He abused their patience no end. He put Dr Gonzi through hell but Dr Gonzi never mentioned a word about the craziness of Debono’s behaviour. In Maltese the word is issapportih hafna. Now we see how he will treat Muscat.
This is also besides the subject..somehow I have always thought the same..you are a very attractive woman…I’m not interested in politics, I’m only interested in beauty..in all its forms. Sadly I have never had the fortune to see you in person, albiet I live in Sliema and I walk everyday along the front.
Omg!! Love your replies:) Daphne, you are one in a million! Your blog, my bible.
Best and most treasured compliment I recently received was …” You’re the DCG of FB”
The Germans, who are very concerned about digital privacy, refer to this as SMS stalking. It will soon be covered by criminal law.
As far as I know it is already legislated for in Australia and some far east countries.
Have you seen Franco’s reply in Malta Today? He’s calling Gonzi a liar!
Very well said. Daphne is one beautiful person. Losers who attack looks and physical appearance do so when they have nothing left to argue with.
The press, in particular The Times’ journalists, are to blame for his behaviour. Each time PM Gonzi spoke or the government issued a statement, The Times used to call Franco Debono for his reaction, as if he had any credibility whatsoever.
They used to egg him on, hoping that he might utter one of his typical erratic statements, and then put it on as a headline, presenting it as a statement of fact rather than a quote from an unstable person.
The Times were so keen to get rid of Gonzi that it was all grist to the mill, even bilious statements by someone with a major axe to grind and no credibility. They tried hard to depict Debono as a psychologically normal MP who was being discriminated against.
The average Maltese would find Franco Debono appealing. He represents the average Maltese because the average Maltese person sees his mirror reflection in Franco Debono.
Precisely. This is why he’s been so successful.
Pauline Peterson thinks having a cinema in Gozo is more important than having a Parliament..
Posted on The Times:
Pauline Peterson
Apr 16th, 10:27
What if the Govt sells the new parliament building and bail this cinema out. I am sure there will be enough money left over to help other projects more worthy than the parliament building.
It seems that Franco Debono has a rather large pending water and electricity bill. His law partner Charmaine has left the office, having long since had enough, and he’s chasing her to pay what he says is her share of the bills.
As usual an excellent article. The PN must steer clear from Franco Debono once and for all.
He presents trouble for anyone who makes contact with him. Right now, the PN must grab this opportunity to tell the country that they will not be part of any committee which involves this shameless man.
He is like a malignant tumour that can metastasize at any time.
Exactly – a real malignant tumour and Franco, you will meet your Waterloo sooner or later. So will Joseph and co if they fail to deliver.
I just hope that the new leadership will not even think of taking this bastard or any of the others back.
That photo says it all. He is the typical example of a man you would find fil-kazin tal-banda. Jghid fuq dak u fuq l-iehor, jghid fuq kulhadd.
Ara jazzardaw jghidu fuqu ghax hu bravu u perfett.
Backstabber. Taparsi habib tieghek imma jkun qed jahdmek quddiem wiccek u minn wara darek.
Tantrums taparsi ghandu ragun. Doppia faccia u sfaccat. The typical Maltese asshole.
Aah if only Malta were rid of this type alone… there’d be room to stretch and breathe. These people, commonly motivated by envy, both male and female, are such a waste of precious time.
Agree 100% with Evarist Bartolo
I presume you mean Evarist Saliba.
Don’t bother; you are not the first to confuse my name with that of my cousin, and you will not be the last.
Dr Gonzi being the gentleman he is will not publish the messages received from Franco Debono. I challenge Franco Debono to publish them himself since he is the author.
Why, just why, Gonzi did not see it fit to approach the police years ago is beyond me.