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MALTATODAY 6 February 2019

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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 FEBRUARY 2019 7 NEWS ANALYSIS 4. Before 2013 Debono picked a number of issues, which resonated with the public. Now Debono picks on egrant, an issue which backfired on the PN, and he does so after 5 years of silence on panama issue. Before 2013 Debono was vociferous not just on his pet subject; justice reform on which he made a number of sensible proposal but also on public transport and the use of heavy fuel oil in the BWSC power station. He also chose to confront the least popular Minister of the day; Austin Gatt. It was only later that Debono turned his eyes on Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici and Lawrence Gonzi, neither of whom where at the peak of their popularity. In contrast he is now con- fronting Muscat at the peak of his popularity. Moreover he has hit hard by resurrect- ing the egrant issue, an accu- sation which he himself did not give much credence in the past as proved by a number of facebook posts. To be fair in his blog Franco Debono is not alleging that egrant actually belongs to Muscat but is making a politi- cal argument that Muscat can only clear his name from rea- sonable suspicion by having an investigation to establish who owns egrant. "As long as an investiga- tion to establish who owns egrant is not made, the politi- cal judgement that Muscat or someone close to him owns egrant remains a valid one. It is in Muscat's interest that an investigation is done to if he wants to the shadow cast on him removed." But Debono's attack comes out of the blues, after years of silence on the panama issue during which Debono contin- ued to serve as law commis- sioner. It also a mystery why Delia latched at egrant rather than at cases like the hospital deal or 17 Black, on which the evidence is more damning. The question remains; how has Muscat suddenly become the "most corrupt politician Malta has ever seen" and where was Debono in the past five years? While before 2013 one could see a build up in Debono's outrage, this is not the case now. For till the lat- est eruption, Debono's rants where reserved to Owen Bon- nici and the justice sector. The only context to Debono's rant against Muscat seems to be the decision to abort the constitutional convention which was to be presided by himself and by Debono's clash with Muscat's lawyer Pawlu Lia – who sits as the govern- ment's representative on the Commission for the Admin- istration of Justice which is hearing an appeal against a 2011 decision by the Chamber of Advocates that found him guilty of contempt with a €700 fine, over a telephonic alterca- tion with a magistrate's assis- tant. While Debono has been very transparent in linking his clash with Lia to his criticism of Muscat, this fuels the per- ception that Debono is driven by grudges. 5. Criticism of Debono by Labour supporters now risks vindicating previous criti- cism by PN supporters, thus irreversibly damaging the Debono brand. Ironically Debono now finds himself being accused by la- bour supporters of the same things he was accused of by PN supporters in 2013, name- ly that he is not a team player, that he is ego centric and that he is driven by personal ambi- tion. The risk for Debono is that his brand will be further dam- aged by these reinforced per- ceptions. For while in 2013 Labour voters were more than willing to rush to his rescue, PN voters may be less willing to do so now. But Labour sup- porters must be careful not to go over board in attempts to belittle Debono who in the past had shown an uncanny ability to emerge stronger from such attacks. In short Debono has the sort of personality which thrives on conflict. In fact Debono may well have banked on a strong negative reaction from Labour supporters, fully knowing that any association of egrant with Muscat would turn the social media on fire. In this way Debono was once again able to subvert the bi- partisan system, finding him- self back in the good graces of some PN supporters who shared his blogs and in the bad book of Labour support- ers. What remains a mystery is Debono's ultimate destina- tion. And once again Debono thrives on leaving everybody guessing. The question is what options does he have left? carries less currency than in 2013

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