Owen Bonnici refuses to comment on constitutional convention controversy

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has no comment to make on the the constitutional convention. Law Commissioner and former PN MP Franco Debono has alleged that President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca is set to lead the constitutional convention instead of him.

While it was originally meant to be Debono who would lead the convention, he recently said that Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca would do so after her term expires in April, adding that this shows the President has been pushing for this. Debono has hit out at this situation recently.

This newsroom asked Bonnici why the government had changed its mind and given the lead role in the convention to the President. He said “no comment.”

This newsroom tried to ask a follow-up question on what would happen if the next president disagreed with MarieLouise Coleiro Preca leading the convention, given the president’s role as guardian of the constitution; however, Bonnici cut the question short, saying he had no comments to give.

Debono was previously asked on Indepth about this situation, and whether he thought it was meritocratic. “The fact that Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was to lead the convention when her term expires in April shows that she has been pushing for this,” he argued.

He insisted that constitutional reform was all about accountability. “Let’s not forget the Paqpaqli incident, in which people were seriously injured. Should responsibility have been shouldered by the Presi- dent? In view of what happened, is the President the ideal person to lead the convention? I will not answer that question myself. What happened to meritocracy?”

The President is not the only person in Debono’s sights. Debono launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Saturday, calling him the “most corrupt politician” Malta had ever seen. Debono also wrote that Panamanian company Egrant belonged either to the prime minister or to someone close to him. Asked about this previously, Debono insisted that he was making an argument, and not a factual declaration. “Brian Tonna had said Egrant belonged to him. He is close to the prime minister, so this all falls within the argument I am making.”