It’s not a coalition Mister Speaker

The heat continues. The Times reported JPO’s latest dramatic act with the following headline: “JPO tells Speaker he considers himself in coalition with the government.” My first reaction was something to the extent of thinking that JPO can call the relationship whatever he bloody well likes. Then I read the article and found the letter that JPO had written to the Speaker.

“Mr Speaker

I would like to inform you that I have resigned from the Nationalist Party. I have informed the leader of the party Dr. Lawrence Gonzi that, while I still consider him to be the Prime Minister of Malta, I no longer form part of his parliamentary group and do not consider the PN parliamentary whip as having any form of authority with regard to my actions in the coming months. I intend to continue serving out my term in the House of Representatives as an independent member.

Yours,

Dr. Jeffrey Pullicino Orland M.P.”

Nice isn’t it? Jeffrez informs the Speaker that (a) he no longer forms part of the PN parliamentary group, (b) that he does not consider the PN parliamentary whip as having any form of authority over him, and (c) that he will serve the rest of his term as an independent member.

The Times then asked the Speaker’s office for more details and someone at the speaker’s office said that “Dr Pullicino Orlando explained that he considers himself as being in a coalition with the government and he will continue to support the government in parliament unless he declares otherwise for some specific motion or bill. ”

So Pullicino Orlando said, presumably over the phone, something that was clearly not specified in the letter. I’m guessing the term was used loosely because – as has been exhaustively explained before… IT’S NOT A COALITION. What really jars is that the Department of Information throws in this addendum conjuring up the ghost of coalitions. Here is how MaltaToday reported it:

“The statement, issued through the Department of Information, added that Pullicino Orlando is considering himself to be in coalition with government.”

It’s not irrelevant. This is a concerted attempt to denigrate the idea of a coalition. It is obvious to anyone who cares to invest a little time in informed research that the situation has nothing to do with a coalition. It is a crying shame if the Department of Information and/or the Speaker’s office has joined the idiots engaging in this kind of misinformation.

It’s cohabitation, stupid.