Franco Debono has TWO resignations to make, and not just one

Published: January 8, 2012 at 12:19am

So Franco Debono said he resigned from the Nationalist Party some months ago and his resignation was not accepted.

“I couldn’t take it anymore so I resigned, but the resignation was not accepted,” he said.

What kind of jerk-talk is this? Resignations that are not accepted are for people who resign against their will, and are then glad to be asked to stay on.

If you want to resign, then you resign, end of story. Nobody can force you to stay on unless you have a contract of service which can’t be broken without you ending up in court.

So if Franco accepted the fact that his resignation was not accepted, then he didn’t want to resign at all, and it was yet another dramatic gesture.

If a woman behaved like this, God help her. But because it’s a man who’s being dramatic, unbalanced and hysterical, that’s not so bad. No need to call the doctor with a happy-shot in the arm and cart her off to the rest-home for a few weeks.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party says that he resigned ‘several times’ and then withdrew those resignations.

Franco Debono has not said the whole of it, or explained to the wider audience, which doesn’t understand the distinction, the difference between resigning from the party (resigning the party whip) and resigning from parliament.

If he resigns from the party but not from parliament, the Nationalist Party ends up with exactly the same number of seats as the Labour Party and cannot continue to govern.

Franco Debono has to resign from parliament and not just from the Nationalist Party. There are TWO SEPARATE resignations that have to be made here.

Yes, he can legally and constitutionally hold onto his seat even if he resigns from the Nationalist Party. But why would he do that, except to be even more of a jerk than he is already?




13 Comments Comment

  1. Are politics in Malta maybe a bit childish?

  2. A Grech says:

    These two are contradicting statements. Are they or am I misunderstanding?

    “If he resigns from the party but not from parliament, the Nationalist Party ends up with exactly the same number of seats as the Labour Party and cannot continue to govern.:”

    “Franco Debono has to resign from parliament and not just from the Nationalist Party. There are TWO SEPARATE resignations that have to be made here.”

    [Daphne – I don’t think I could have been more clear. There are two resignations to be made: from the party and from parliament. Many people are under the impression that if he resigns from the Nationalist Party then he loses his seat. He does not. He keeps it. The seat is his, not the party’s, according to our Constitution. However, given that he won it on the party ticket, he cannot morally hold onto it, even if he can do so legally. Lino Spiteri spoke well about this on Dissett earlier tonight: if you disagree with your party and/or your party leader, you should resign from parliament, not just from the party, because you are in parliament on the party ticket.]

  3. J Abela says:

    But my question is; If he resigns from parliament, does it mean that the government collapses? or will a bi-election be held?

  4. Botom says:

    I will be more than willing to type his resignation letters. I am sure that this time round the Nationalist Party reaction would be “RECEIVED WITH THANKS”.

  5. Rachel says:

    He’s reminding me of Angelik. Both equally hysterical! (Not in the funny sense of course….)

  6. oldtimer says:

    Kick him out of the party

  7. amen says:

    Two resignations? I think he has “3” resignations to make.

    Do you really think he has the right state of mind to perform his duty as a lawyer?

    [Daphne – He’s self-employed. There’s no scope for resignation there.]

    • JD says:

      Actually, I believe that he does have three resignations to make. If I am not mistaken, he is still a parliamentary assistant within the Prime Minister’s office. Why hasn’t he resigned from the position if serving under the PM is so unbearable?

      [Daphne – No, it’s two resignations, not three. If he resigns from parliament it stands to reason that he is no longer a parliamentary assistant. Of course, if that’s the only resignation he plans to make, then it’s another matter, and the resignation must be made separately.]

    • Angus Black says:

      If the assessments of Debono’s mental state are correct, would you hire him as your lawyer? His rants and his body language seem to justify such assessments.

      Debono has lost trust not only with any political party in Malta, but with the general public of whatever colour, in his (in)capacity as a lawyer.

      He has ruined his future, basically, and had better consult the best professionals his money can afford in order to get back on the road to sanity.

  8. Matthew Vella says:

    I hate to admit it but it’s true; if a woman was doing this she’d be dismissed as hysterical immediately.

    • Pepe` says:

      In fact, had it been a woman she’d already have a room waiting for her at the nuthouse, whereas a man gets accused of behaving like a woman.

  9. Lomax says:

    …besides, if he resigns from the PN he can never really challenge Joseph Muscat, because he would have to take away JM’s leadership and he can very well be rest assured that JM will not give up the party leadership not even if his life depended on it.

    So, he would very much end up cutting his nose to spite his face and I really believe what you said in another post, Daphne – that Franco Debono is after leaderhip of the PN and nothing else.

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