This skunk should have had the lid slammed down on him years ago
Tony Debono – li jrida ta’ Anthony de Bono – has been scuttling around the netherworld of Maltese politics, crawling to power-brokers of whatever party and occasionally raising his tail and releasing a pong, since the Golden Years of Labour.
He really is the most UNBELIEVABLE sleazy creep. It comes off him in waves, including the smarmy way he speaks in that horrid accent. I really can’t take the way people keep giving in to him and letting him take what he wants – maybe he sleazes them out. I can think of no other explanation.
Or maybe it’s because the man turns nasty and vicious when thwarted and most people assume it’s better to be on good terms with everyone.
He and I haven’t spoken for almost 14 years. We fell out when I was one of the organisers of the Malta Telecommunications Conference in 2000. Debono was supposed to be some kind of adviser or consultant but did jack except invite two of his useful friends (useful to him, that is) to speak.
The night before the conference, when we were all busy setting up, I left the hall for half an hour to grab a sandwich and when I returned I found hideously garish print-outs on every one of the 200 or so seats. It was an astonishingly vulgar promotional CV for Tony Debono, with ANTHONY DE BONO printed at the top in vile Gothic style lettering.
I rushed round the 200 seats gathering them all up and within the blink of an eye, the permanently disappearing Tony Debono magically appeared like a bottle genie of the nasty variety, demanding to know what I was doing.
“I’m clearing up your papers with a view to throwing them away,” I said. “Why don’t you give me a hand instead of just standing there?”
There was a moment when you could see that he couldn’t work out what to do next and was deliberating between these options.
1. Shall I hit her? Bad idea, because she’s taller than I am and might actually hit me back anyway.
2. Shall I try some gentle persuasion of the ‘you’d better do as I say or you’ll never work again’ variety?
3. Shall I threaten her with reference to higher authority?
He tried the last. “Really, who?” I said to him, “Because as you can’t have failed to notice, I’m in charge here, and if the rules are for no personal publicity for anyone, then you’ve got to follow the rules like everyone else. So if you wish to hang on to your papers for use elsewhere, gather them up quickly because those I get to first will end up in the bin.”
He ended up scuttling around picking them up, then fished out the ones I’d thrown in the bin.
The next morning I turned up to find the papers on the seats again. This time I not only picked them up, but I ripped them up before binning them. Ten minutes before it was all due to begin, Tony Debono swanned in smirking at me unpleasantly. “I spoke to X,” he said, mentioning the name of a man, “and he said that I can put out my CV on the chairs.”
Of course, that was guaranteed to bring out the worst in me – you know, reporting me to a man on the assumption that the man, by dint of being a man, could obviously lay down the law and second guess me, and I would obey, even though he was not my superior and had no say in the matter.
“Oh really?” I said. “Well, in that case you had better locate a roll of sticky-tape and get cracking.” Then I led him to the bin.
There has been no contact since.
40 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
And he colours his hair, and eyebrows.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131210/local/Ex-envoy-keeps-lips-sealed-on-threats-.498332#.UqdNK741gdU
He was private secretary to Vincent Moran, when Moran was Minister of health. He was kicked out and the late Maggie Moran told me that he was engaged in activities that he should not have been engaged in.
Well as far as I know Anthony Debono served first in Dr Albert Hyzler’s ministry. Prior to that he was a postman.
Prior to that appointment, he was tendering sterling services to the Department of Agriculture & Fisheries.
Wonderfully snazzy dresser. Salmon pink always becomes swarthy males of a certain age and shade of hair dye.
Baxxter?
I wasn’t going to write about the suit, but the eyes. The EYES.
Bovine.
Then the grin.
There’s a certain kind of Maltese genotype that says scoundrel louder than any action. I’m starting to think it really is all in the genes.
Phenotype you mean. Sorry, that’s my OCD making an appearance.
Both.
Fully agree with Baxxter. Those eyes.
Toni Debono sab kappell jigih.
I remember Tony Debono as a permanent fixture during the eighties on Xandir Malta news together with the MLP minister at the time. Xandir Malta formed part of Telemalta at the time and propaganda was the only form of news on Xandir Malta.
To my dismay, he recycled himself and was engaged by subsequent PN ministers starting from the late Pierre Muscat and all telecommunication ministers ever since. He must be a survivalist.
You see, this is exactly why some of us worship you, Daphne. You’re the only one in this country who stands up to these sleazeballs.
Seconded.
You read my mind H.P. Baxxter.
Fully agree with you Baxxter. Consider me the FIRST one of the whole lot.
I remember a photo of him in The Times in what looked like doctor’s overalls standing next to Censu Moran (he was Moran’s private secretary at the time) together with the cream of Dom’s cabinet surrounding the unofficially dead body of il-Fusellu at St. Luke’s while the shenanigans over Fusullu’s transfer of assets were taking place.
Though a known Laburist/Opportunist and former assistant to Censu Moran, Tony Deono also managed to become a telecommunications consultant to Francis Zammit Dimech and also of the Tumas Group around 1999, at a perfect time when this industry and services were becoming important in Malta.
Somehow we always have wheelers and dealers like this one, who seem to manage to infiltrate with every political group. Sleaze balls.
Dak x’liebes? Dvalja?
Tony Debono is a survivalist and opportunist who always managed to get what he wants. He is a person that managed to live with both parties when in government. I think no one can match his record.
With those kind of clothes I would have guessed he likes Ignatius Farrugia.
If I’m not mistaken, Tony Debono worked in the ministry of Censu Moran when the latter was Minister of Health.
This man has putrefied slime oozing out of every pore of his epidermis. The absolute epitome of the Tagħna Lkoll brigade.
The day after Pierre Muscat was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Communications way back in 1987, he asked me to drive him to Telemalta’s offices in Marsa because he still did not have a driver and he did not know where the place was.
When we arrived he was met by Vince Arrigo who introduced Tony Debono to him and told him that Debono was a man who should be trusted.
I just could not believe it because some months earlier together with other Labour thugs he tried to attack me outside Parliament where I used to go to report parliamentary sessions.
Tony Debono – min vera garrab u kien involut fil-Partit Nazzjonalista dak iz-zmien taht il-Gvern Laburista ta’ Mintoff dan jafu sew.
Izda meta nbidel il-Gvern baqa ghaddej tajjeb u sahansitra kien jew ghadu f’kumitat tan-Nazzjonalisti.
Darba waqt riceviment smajtu jirrakkonta storja ta’ x’kien jaghmel meta kien ma’ Moran gewwa l-Imgieret bil-voti tax-xjuh u spicca jidhaqq u jghid lil dawk ta’ madwaru kif qatt setghu jirbhu n-Nazzjonalisi b’daqs dawk voti li jien (Tony Debono) kont naghmel bihom li rrid jien.
Min hu ta’ certu eta’ jiftakar sew x’kien isir gewwa l-Imgieret bil-voti tax-xjuh u kif hadd mill-Partit Nazzjonalista ma kienx jista’ jersaq ‘l hemm waqt il-votazzjoni.
I can give you a complete CV of Tony Debono. This ex postman rose overnight to become personal secretary to Mintoff’s Minister of Health, Censu Moran.
He and his friend Ray Azzopardi, now our ambassador to Belgium, wanted to tear me to pieces (I worked at the Department of Health) after the 1981 general election. When they did not find me, as I had been kindly tipped off, they left a message for me to report for work at the Refuse Disposal Centre, and I quote: “biex Edwin Bartolo l-Qahbu jiehu hsiebek”.
My crime was taking the Nationalist Party newspaper, In-Nazzjon, to work with me every day as a small act of resistance. Tony Debono and Ray Azzopardi – double scum of the earth.
If I remember correctly, from a postman he was appointed as an “accountant”, a grade that did not exist within the Civil Service.
As holder of this unique grade, it was assimilated with other grades following a reorganisation of civil service grades and following this, other appointments followed. Thus the only exam he sat for was that of a postman. He is of course free to correct my memory if it is faulty.
‘This skunk should have had the lid slammed down on him years ago’
I fully endorse your statement.
I am quite amazed how naive some politicians have been and not at all surprised the last election was lost.
Tony Debono Romano, ghax dak huwa propja ismu, beda l-karriera tax-xoghol tieghu mal-gvern bhala postman.
Fi zmien il-Labour il-pulizija anke kaz dwar sapun ahdar hbewlu, u surgent li dak iz-zmien tal-kaz kien fl-iskwadra ta’ kontra d-droga wara ftit zmien minn dan il-kaz xi hadd ivvintalu job mat-Telemalta.
Can anyone add up the generous golden handshakes Tony Debono has been given over the years, by both the Fenech Adami and the Sant administration?
Presenting the Ambaxxatur Anthony De Bono ‘Shield’
http://www.sportinmalta.com/antonello-abela-moghti-is-shield-ambaxxatur-anthony-debono/
[Daphne – He looks just like some character played by Matt Lucas in Little Britain. If you click on that picture to enlarge it, you’ll get the creeps. And I don’t mean because of the shield recipient’s weird jeans. Tony Debono looks like some kind of closet pervert.]
I thought you’d like it.
[Daphne – You know, it never occurred to me until I saw today’s photographs – this one and that other one in Times of Malta – that he’s probably not into women. That would explain so much, as it does with Jason Micallef. Same type.]
Oh he is into women all right. His partner, with whom he has a son, is none other than Rose Anne Camilleri, a consultant with the health department who some poor sod at the OPM thought fit to head the POYC unit, without checking how she was employed in the first case.
She is a Dalli woman through and through, and another ruthless survivor and relentless self-promoter.
And what about Peppermint Communications? The partners in that media company were Tony Debono, Gerald J Debono and Super One’s Miriam Dalli. And the Nationalists gave Tony his tessera, and his consultancy with Ping Mobile, which he thoroughly messed up.
Then they made him Ambassador to Jordan. In the meantime, he was busy planning his next move with Malta Taghna Lkoll, and was duly spotted waving at the celebrating crowds in St Julian’s when the Great Debacle happened.
Now his girlfriend is conveniently installed in a powerful position at the general hospital, thanks to Dalli, and he himself is busy trying to ingratiate himself into some job, no doubt assisted by his dear friend Ray Azzopardi, the ambassador to Brussels. Watch this space.
[Daphne – How naïve can you get, Phoenix. Ray Azzopardi’s late lamented longtime boyfriend had a wife and children. I would say, going on nothing but gut instinct, that the clue to Debono’s real nature is in your last line and not your first. No straight man would have a dear friend like Ray Azzopardi, and I don’t mean that because he’s gay but because of the kind of gay person he is, which involves a great deal of covert behaviour.]
That IS Matt Lucas.
I fully concur.
Notice how while everyone is looking at the camera he’s not even looking at his ‘shield’ but drooling over the young lad and wondering what’s inside those jeans to give them that odd shape.
The salmon outfit in the other photograph is another giveaway.
@ Charlie.
No surprise that Vince Arrigo introduced Tony Debono to Pierre Muscat and told him that Debono should be trusted.
Debono had a good number of thugs who were completely under his control as they were highly obliged towards him.
Debono managed to gain these obligations and ‘respect’ from these thugs because due to his important position with the then Minister Vincent Moran, Debono was able to give them and provide them with whatever they required, even if it was something difficult or not quite straight.
Therefore, they became his good friends and they looked at him as their God. On the other hand Debono took the advantage of this situation to use these people to protect himself, and also the Labour government.
Debono through these people had so much power that everyone was afraid of him and Vince Arrigo and other high people at Telemalta knew perfectly his contacts with these thugs and therefore were all afraid of him to the extent that they had to defend him at all times even when the Labour lost the 1987 election.
Meta kien segretarju ta’ Moran kien izomm tape recorder mohbi fil-kexxun u jirrikordja bil-mohbi lil min jidhirlu minn fost dawk li jigu jkellmuh.
It-thugs fidili lejh kienu jinkludu lill-Qahbu u t-Tumakku u dawn kienu jmorru jsawtu lil minn jghidilhom. Il-vittmi kienu jkunu jew Nazzjonalisti jew nies li b’xi mod kienu jopponu r-Regime Socjalista ta’ dak iz-zmien. Darba sa wassal biex pogga t-thugs tieghu ghassa mal-bieb tal-Ministeru tas Sahha waqt li kienet qeghda ssir l-elezzjoni ghall-ghazla tal-Bord tan-Nurses u l-Midwives. Din l-elezzjoni kienet ikkontestata bejn rapprezentanti tal-UHM u l-GWU. L-ordni kienet li jitwaqqfu u jigu mbezzgha milli jivvutaw dawk li kienu maghrufa bhala membri tal-UHM.
He looks like one of those long forgotten southern Italian crooners of the Claudio Villa school of singing.
Either that or a New Jersey mobster.
Dan ic-chairman tal-karozza bid-daxxbort tal-gewz?
Qahba fil-politika u korrott fin-negozju. Verzjoni inferjuri ta l-speci umana.