Email:peter@nadurjana.com Facebook Nadurjana and Peter Portelli
Sunday, 29 January, 2012
Sunday Request Program Two hours of you favourite songs. Today her on Radio Nadurjana. Enjoy Will it be election or compromise?
 In a deparfture from his recent approach, Franco Debono chose not to comment to the Press yesterday
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi risks riding into political oblivion and condemning the Nationalist Party to years in Opposition if he goes to the polls with a divided party, according to former PN president Frank Portelli. “Compromise might be a better solution,” Dr Portelli told The Times yesterday, 24 hours after the government survived a no-confidence motion in Parliament but lost the support of one of its backbenchers. Thursday’s events have left people wondering what the next step will be and whether an election is the only way out of the political impasse that has developed. Franco Debono, the PN backbencher at the centre of the maelstrom, has gone silent after delivering a speech of one hour and 10 minutes on Wednesday outlining his complaints about the government. “I have no comment to make. What I had to say I said in Parliament and the media over the past weeks,” he sressed when contacted yesterday, hinting that the ball was now in the Prime Minister’s court. Soon after the vote, Dr Gonzi said he would find a solution within the PN’s internal structures. A party general council will be held tomorrow but the solution has yet to be spelt out. Dr Portelli believes Dr Gonzi can try to continue governing – he has no constitutional obligation to advise the President to dissolve Parliament and call an election – but to do so he would have to regain the support of the majority of MPs. The former PN president listed three possible options for a solution, including “a historic compromise” with Dr Debono by establishing “a working relationship”. A second option was for Dr Gonzi to offer his resignation as Prime Minister if the deputy Prime Minister or any other MP from the PN was “willing and able” to obtain the support of the majority of the House. Alternatively, the PN might try to form a national government with the Opposition, Dr Portelli said. If none of the compromise solutions were possible a general election would have to be called. But the prospects for the PN were very grim, he added. “Perhaps a political lesson can be learnt from the events of 1998 when a Labour prime minister went to the country with a divided party and rode into political oblivion and 14 years of Opposition,” Dr Portelli said, adding that a compromise might be a better solution. Whether a compromise will be sought has still to be seen but for historian Henry Frendo, Dr Debono’s abstention has bought the Administration some time. A vote for the no-confidence motion would have immediately sent the country to the polls. “It is not an ideal situation to survive with the Speaker’s casting vote but it gives the Administration some breathing space to pass important legislation pending before Parliament,” he said. The time could be used to reach some form of arrangement with Dr Debono, such as agreeing on a time frame to pass the political party financing Bill he presented. “Dr Debono’s decision to submit the Bill in his personal capacity presupposes he intends to pilot it and this obviously requires some time until it passes through all stages in Parliament. But at the end of the day it all depends on what Dr Debono does.” For PN backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, however, there are no ifs and buts, with an election being the only solution to stem the instability. “You cannot run a country simply because you are legally allowed to do so,” he said with reference to Dr Gonzi’s argument that there was no constitutional obligation to call an election, because the no-confidence motion had been defeated. Dr Pullicino Orlando drew the same parallels made by Opposition leader Joseph Muscat on Thursday by referring to the anomalous situation after the 1981 election. He asked: “After 1981, Dom Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici were legally correct to continue running the country but were they morally right to do so?” In that election Labour had won a majority of parliamentary seats but not of votes. The Constitution permitted such a situation then. Dr Pullicino Orlando said the current political situation was not good for “the country and the party”, adding that “morally the PN cannot continue to run the country with instability around”.
Saturday, 28 January, 2012
Defrocked priest should be found guilty of rape - AG
Godwin Scerri, the defrocked priest, who the Courts jailed five years after they found him guilty of abusing boys in his care, should also be found guilty of rape, Philip Galea Farrugia, for the Attorney General, insisted this morning. Making submissions in the AG's appeal against the Magistrate's decision to acquit Mr Scerri of rape, Dr Galea Farrugia said there was no real contestation that the rape took place. Mr Scerri was cleared of the rape charge only because it had happened in one place when the charge sheet listed that it happened at another. Lawyer Patrick Valentino, who is appearing for the victims, asked Mr Justice David Scicluna for the case to be heard rather quickly because the victims already had to wait a long time for justice in the Magistrates Court. There were 77 sittings, with the prosecution closing its case after seven. Twenty-seven of the other sittings were deferments at the request of the defence team. In response, Giannella de Marco, who is representing Mr Scerri, said that there were a number of reasons for the deferrals, including the terrible state of one of the accused - Fr Joseph Bonnett, who had since died. Fr Bonnett had been suffering from bone cancer but still made the effort to go to court. Other deferrals had been requested because the magistrate was unwell and it was even more difficult to defend one from allegations which went back such a long time. Quoting extensively from case law, Dr de Marco said the prosecution had enough time to correct this mistake in the charge sheet but did not. The case was deferred for judgement to March 28. Mayor backs disbanding of local council
Sliema mayor Johanna Gonzi “fully supports” the government decision to dissolve the council “which is not functioning the way it should be”. “The decision to dissolve it was right. Although I abstained from voting when the warning letter was discussed at council level, I fully support it because the council was not functioning the way it should have been, obviously to the detriment of residents,” she said when contacted yesterday. She said she that, so far, she had not yet been officially informed about the decision, adding that this was “apparently normal, as we will only be informed afterwards”. Dr Gonzi, who climbed to the hot seat following the resignation of former mayor Nikki Dimech, who was charged with bribery, said council meetings – 84 of them since she took over – were “difficult”, with “constant bickering, including personal insults”. As an example of how the council could not function, Dr Gonzi said it took the council eight months to adjudicate the waste collection tender because some councillors would not attend meetings “because of personal conflicts”. Her deputy, former Nationalist councillor Cyrus Engerer, who resigned from the Nationalist Party to join Labour and became an independent member, has “absolutely no doubt” that there were “ulterior motives” behind the decision to dissolve the council. He is one of five Sliema councillors elected on a PN ticket who have since left the party. He believes the PN, which lost the majority of councillors, wants to regain control of the council at this Nationalist stronghold for it to be able to do the “usual favours” before the forthcoming election. He lamented that councillors did not see the report of the Internal Audit and Investigations Department, which is being quoted by the government as one of the reasons for the council’s dissolution. Neither did they see the report compiled by the Department for Local Government, recommending disbanding the council, Mr Engerer said. He rejected as a “blatant lie” a comment by fellow councillor Julian Galea that he led independent and Labour councillors to miss council meetings to prevent it from securing a quorum. Asked whether he would run on a PL ticket should an election in Sliema be called, Mr Engerer said he was keeping his options open. “If I’ll contest, I’ll contest for Labour,” he said. Similarly, Dr Gonzi said she had not given any thought to the idea of contesting the election. The Sliema council has had a turbulent couple of years, with Mr Dimech charged with corruption and a number of councillors the subject of police investigations. JPO agrees an election is the only way forward
Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said today that he agrees with the conclusion of the editorial of today's The Times that 'there now seems to be only one way forward: an election as soon as possible'. In an entry on his facebook wall in which he speaks about Franco Debono's abstention on the vote of no confidence in the government yesterday, Dr Pullicino Orlando, who has declared he will not be contesting the next election, wrote: "Hon. Debono refused to support government in Parliament for the third time in the space of two years yesterday. An abstention in a no-confidence vote carries a lot of weight. "He has asked for the resignation of the Prime Minister. He has asked for the resignation of a number of ministers. "He has declared that he feels that the Prime Minister is controlled by a 'web of evil' and that we are living in an oligarchy and not a democracy... that is why I agree with the conclusions of today's 'Times' editorial. This country needs stability." In its editorial The Times said: "There now seems to be only one way forward: an election as soon as possible. After all, a car with a punctured tyre cannot go very far. "Admittedly, going to the polls at this stage may be against the wishes of the two main parties. They would have certainly preferred having more time to prepare themselves better before facing an election. "The Labour Party might well expect that, with the government having made so many glaring mistakes, Castille is theirs for the taking. "On the other hand, though the Nationalists may have shot themselves in the foot far too often, they are not likely to give up the possibility of regaining power, even though the odds may not be in their favour. "This being a functioning democracy, it is up to the sovereign electorate to make the choice. Given what happened in Parliament yesterday, the sooner electors are called to pronounce their verdict the better for all." Speaking on Affari Taghna later tonight, Dr Pullicino Orlando said that one had to be an ostrich with his head stuck in the sand to insist that there is stability. He said that Dr Debono had made valid points and serious points, upon which he had insisted. He agreed with some of them but not with his methods since there were other avenues he could have taken. It was a shame that because of the methodology used by Dr Debono, issues of utmost importance he had raised - such as the need for legislation on party financing and better libel laws, would not be addressed, Dr Pullicino Orlando said. Dr Debono's statements, Dr Pullicino Orlando said, could not be ignored because "they could return to haunt you". First Rugby League fixture to be held at Gozo Stadium
The Gozitan team, who debuted in the MRL Championship in 2011, will field their open age side against the Calderdale College U19′s from West Yorkshire. Player-coach Clifford Debattista agreed to the fixture in Gozo along with Gozo RL secretary Eman Borg who confirmed the match was in the club’s calendar. “We’ve been training at the Gozo Stadium for many months since the MRL Championship last season and it will be a pleasure to bring an official fixture to the venue for the first time on February the 15th,” Eman Borg said. “Our players are excited by the announcement and we are looking forward to seeing the development of our players, Gary Hili and Shan Francois Hussain (currently injured) have represented Malta and Clifford was elevated to national team vice captain while also being captain of the Malta XIII against the Leeds Akkies.” Calderdale College’s match against Gozo on February the 15th will be a warm-up match for their fixture against Malta U20′s in Malta later that week. Fixtures for Calderdale College are: Wednesday 15 February Gozo RL v Calderdale College U19′s Gozo Stadium, Gozo, Malta Facebook Event Page Friday 17 February Malta U20′s v Calderdale College U19′s Melita FC, Pembroke, Malta.
Friday, 27 January, 2012
Knights of St. Peter and St. Paul Presentation of money to the mission Last Saturday, 21 January, The Knights of St. Peter and St. Paul in Nadur, Gozo, donated a sum of 300 dollars to the mission of Fr. Raymond Portelli. Fr. Raymond is a missionary priest at St. Martin De Porres in Peru. Chevalier Michael Camilleri Cauchi presented the money on behalf of the Confraternity of the Knights of St. Peter and St. Paul. In his speech Chev. Camilleri Cauchi said that the money was raised by the Grand Priory in Melbourne. He added that the Confraternity of the Knights of St. Peter and St. Paul is spreading around the world with branches in Australia, Nadur, Gozo, Canada, Austria and Croatia. Also present were Chevaliers, Adonai Camilleri Cauchi, Carmel Saliba, Hon. Minister Dr. Chris Said, Hon. Minister Giovanna Debono, Joseph Curmi, Guzi Zerafa, Mgr. Rev. Sam Pace, Can. Rev. Karm Portelli and Maria Natoli.
Photos by Chev. Adonai Camilleri Cauchi. Photo on the left: Chev. Michael Camilleri Cauchi on the left, presenting the money to Fr. Raymond Portelli. Photo on the right: From the left Fr. Raymond, Chev. Michael Camilleri Cauchi and Chev. Carmel Saliba. Cheers, jeers as MPs leave the House
The motion was defeated with the Speaker’s casting vote. Asked for a comment as soon as he walked out of the House, Franco Debono, who abstained on the motion, would not give one. There were boos and shouts of tpaxxihomx as he was whisked to a waiting car which was driven away immediately. Beppe Fenech Adami said on his way out that the situation was still one where Opposition leader Joseph Muscat was just nearly a Prime Minister. Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici would not comment. Police presence outside the Palace is heavy. Franco Debono abstains, no confidence motion defeated with casting vote Franco Debono abstained in the confidence vote in the government today, but the Opposition's no confidence motion was defeated with the Speaker's Casting vote after a tie of 34 votes in favour and 34 votes against. Debono took a step back from his previous declarations, opting to abstain rather than vote against the four-year-old Gonzi administration, thus ensuring its survival. The result means that, legally, the government can carry on, although questions will be raised about its stability and ability to govern, particularly since Dr Debono has declared that he will not support the government. It still has to be seen whether he will back the government on important legislation, including two money bills which are already before the House - or whether the government will depend on the Speaker's casting vote. The Prime Minister has already hinted that a tie would be an unsatisfactory solution to the current crisis. Dr Debono spoke yesterday and lashed out at the government for failing to push forward what he said were much-needed reforms of the Constitution and the institutions which provide for effective democracy. He also insisted that ministers should account for their actions, and resign when they failed, rather than act like they lived on a different planet than the rest of the people. He also complained that his protests to date within the organs of the Nationalist Party and the government, had not been heeded, leading to him to his current actions. Earlier this week he had indicated that he might abstain rather than vote against the government, saying that this would throw the ball into the government's court and leave it up to the prime minister to take the decisions that were needed. Muscat calls for early election
Speaking at a press conference, Dr Muscat pointed out that last Sunday Dr Gonzi had said that the outcome today had to be clear, durable to the end of the legislature, and unconditional. He had failed those yardsticks and therefore Dr Gonzi should call a general election. Dr Muscat said Labour was not in a hurry for a general election, but the further the current uncertainty continued, the greater the suffering for the country. Dr Gonzi could stick to legal terms, but in reality, he had lost his majority in parliament, Dr Muscat said. He should not play for time to the detriment of the business sector in particular, Dr Muscat said. This was a democratic deficit. The prime minister knew he had a huge problem of governability, despite what his clique was saying. He should not deceive himself. What had happened today in parliament was a massive slap on the face for the government. The fact that Parliament would not meet while the government was away for the EU summit next Monday and Tuesday was very significant, Dr Muscat said. The prime minister had today emerged from parliament with greater instability than when the sitting started. When a no confidence motion in a single minister was defeated in November because of the casting vote, the prime minister had sought a confidence vote to confirm stability. Now, Dr Muscat said, the situation was worse because the casting vote had been needed on a confidence motion for the whole government. Dr Muscat defended his decision to seek the confidence vote. He said there was no agreement with Franco Debono about it, but the decision to seek the vote was valid because it showed that the governemnt did not have a parliamentary majority. Referring to Dr Gonzi's comments after today's vote, Dr Muscat said the prime minister had had every opportunity to take initiatives within his own party. But from now on, he could not 'play' with the country in an effort to gain time. He would not speculate what action the President could do after today's decision, but said the only way out of this crisis for the country was an early election. Earlier today, Labour Party president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi said the government had not been able to command a majority in Parliament and needed the Speaker's casting vote. This was something which demanded action by the Prime Minister to restore stability in the country. Collection of books presented to the Gozo Lending Library
These books will be added to the collection at the Gozo Lending Library for the benefit of its members. Mr. George Borg, Officer in Charge of library services in Gozo, was also present for the occasion.
Thursday, 26 January, 2012
Country all ears for Debono's speech tonight
The debate on the no confidence motion in the government, moved by the Opposition is now in its third day. A vote on the motion is being taken tomorrow at noon. A request by The Times to photograph part of the proceedings was refused. See http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120125/local/parliament-live.403841 Tonight's proceedings as they develop are being reported here. The debate is also being reported live in a separate story. 6.50 p.m. - Jean Pierre Farrugia, PN, is in the Chamber. Dr Farrugia is saying there is hatred in blogs and relating this to the Holocaust. Evarist Bartolo, PL, enters Chamber. 6.46 p.m. - Karmenu Vella, PL, enters Chamber. PL deputy leader Anglu Farrugia starts speaking about Holocaust. 6.44 p.m. - Dr Mifsud Bonnici still has the floor. Commemoration speeches were meant to take three minutes. 6.42 p.m. - Strangers Gallery is filling up. 6.38 p.m. - Silvio Parnis, PL, is in Chamber. 6.35 p.m. - Victims of Holocaust being commemorated. Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici speaking on Holocaust. 6.34 p.m. - Parliament is to commemorate Holocaust just before the debate starts. 6.33 p.m. - Mario Galea, PN, and Anthony Agius Decelis, PL, are in Chamber. 6.31 p.m. - Gino Cauchi and Alfred Sant, PL, are in Chamber. Debate to start shortly. 6.29 p.m. - Around 35 people in Strangers Gallery. 6.28 p.m. - Tonio Borg is in Chamber. 6.25 p.m. - Ninu Zammit and Mario de Marco are in Chamber. Around 25 people are in the Strangers Gallery - more than there have been in the past two days. 6.21 p.m. - Prime Minister looks relaxed. He shares a joke with Minister George Pullicino. Franco Debono, who is expected to speak at around 8 p.m. is not yet in the Chamber. 6.18 p.m. - Anthony Zammit, PL, is also in the Chamber. Prime Minister enters. 6.13 p.m. - Karl Gouder, PN, and Helena Dalli, PL, are also present. 6.09 p.m. - MPs in the Chamber so far: PL - Justyne Caruana, Joseph Muscat, Joe Mizzi, Anglu Farrugia, Noel Farrugia. PN - Tonio Fenech, Jason Azzopardi, Carm Mifsud Bonnici, George Pullicino, Frederick Azzopardi, Dolores Cristina, Joseph Cassar, Censu Galea, David Agius. Two accused of defiling girl, 13 Two men today pleaded not guilty to defiling a 13-year-old girl and offending public morals. During the separate arraignments today, their defence counsel, Andy Ellul and Vince Micallef, asked the court to appoint a clinical child psychologist to examine the alleged victim. They said the girl has serious problems and in the past had made false allegations against practically her whole family. She had even implicated her adoptive parents, which allegations have since been retracted during proceedings in the Family Court. The two men, aged 51 from Mgarr and 59 from Naxxar, pleaded not guilty. Both were granted bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000 each.
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Listen to the Sunday Program of 1 January 2012. Click here 
Guzeppi Said mix-Xaghra. Klikkja hawn 
Toni Attard il-Bukkac. Ghana Fatt bejn il Haj u il Mejjet. Klikkja hawn 
Fr. Robert Galea sings Reach Out. Click here 
Klikkja hawn 
Applause and boos filled St George’s Square in Valletta as hundreds of Nationalist and Labour supporters greeted their MPs when they left parliament this afternoon. 
