'Labour used Franco Debono to hide Anġlu Farrugia in Xarabank': Peppi Azzopardi

Updated 9.55pm

The Labour Party deliberately used Franco Debono as a shield to prevent then-deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia from appearing in the infamous 2012 Xarabank debate, former host Peppi Azzopardi has said.

In a video posted to Facebook over the weekend, Azzopardi claimed the standoff had nothing to do with the Nationalist Party or Xarabank silencing Debono. Instead, it was a targeted effort by the PL leadership to sideline their own deputy leader.

The claims shed new light on one of the most chaotic nights in modern broadcasting history, when Debono, who was then a PN MP in Gonzi's governing party, showed up for a Xarabank debate that was meant to be between party deputy leaders Simon Busuttil and Anġlu Farrugia, who is now Speaker of the House.

The PN government was on the brink of collapse at the time after Debono had voted against the budget. A few weeks before the general election, Xarabank invited the two deputy leaders for a debate.

The evening was meant to be the first major televised duel between the newly elected PN deputy leader and the PL's Anġlu Farrugia. However, the plot shifted when the PL gave its seat to Franco Debono, who had just helped topple the government by voting against the budget, arguing he should represent his own views in that slot to explain his vote.

Debono arrived at the Xarabank studios instead of Farrugia as the show was about to go live, in a state of high emotion, audibly arguing his right to be on air.

That move led to a debacle and media frenzy, which saw police called to the scene to manage the tension. That night became one of the most infamous moments in local television history.

‘They didn't want him in Xarabank'

Azzopardi said the friction between Xarabank and the Labour Party regarding Anġlu Farrugia was a long-standing issue.

"We would often invite Anġlu Farrugia to the programme, but Labour would never accept to send him," Azzopardi said in the Facebook video. He noted that even when Farrugia personally agreed to attend, the party would intervene and substitute him with another speaker, sometimes at the last minute.

But the 2013 election cycle made his participation in a deputy leaders' debate unavoidable, prompting the party to send the rebel PN MP in his stead at the eleventh hour.

Azzopardi said that the debate between Simon Busuttil and Anġlu Farrugia was the tipping point. 

"They asked Franco Debono to come instead to avoid sending Anġlu Farrugia," he claimed, adding that the real victim of the night was the deputy leader himself.

"I was mostly disappointed for his mother, who was very hurt about what they did to her son."

Azzopardi said he was breaking years of silence to defend his team’s integrity against online commentators accusing Xarabank of censoring Debono that night.

The debate was cancelled that day, after the PN refused to allow Busuttil to debate Debono.

The PL insisted Busuttil was too afraid to face the man who had brought down his own government, while the PN accused the opposition of weaponising a disgruntled MP to avoid a confrontation between the two deputy leaders.

The ‘aquarium’ standoff

Recalling the tension at the Xarabank studios, Azzopardi said that he later learned Simon Busuttil was personally willing to debate Debono, but was overruled by Nationalist Party officials.

As he was deliberating with party officials on what to do, Franco Debono stood outside the room, challenging him to face him in the debate.

The glass-walled room in which Busuttil was at the time became known as the 'aquarium', after Debono shouted from outside the room, accusing Busuttil of hiding inside the "aquarium" to avoid facing him.

The PN had insisted that a deputy leader should only debate his direct counterpart, which is why they did not allow Busuttil to debate Debono.

The following day, the Broadcasting Authority ordered the debate to proceed as originally planned. When Farrugia finally appeared on Saturday, Azzopardi claimed he was abandoned by his peers.

"He was clueless and had no help whatsoever from his own party. Shame on them."

Days after the debate, Anġlu Farrugia resigned as PL deputy leader following comments he made about a magistrate. He was later appointed Speaker of the House after the 2013 election - a move Azzopardi described as an attempt by the party to "make amends."

'No comment': Farrugia

Asked for a reaction on Monday, Farrugia said he had no comment.

In a reply to questions, Kurt Farrugia, who at the time was the Labour Party's head of communications, said he preferred not to comment and that he had great respect for Azzopardi.

"I have too much respect for Peppi to answer on his very selective recollection. Many people gave their take on that weekend. It’s in the past, and the world moved on. The rest is history," he said.

'I was like a cyclone' - Debono

In a reaction on Facebook, Debono agreed the Labour Party had its own motives to sideline Anġlu Farrugia, but said at the time he viewed the chance to gatecrash the studio as "manna from heaven".

He said the move was a "clandestine" opportunity to finally speak on the national broadcaster after being frozen out by his own party.

Debono also pushed back on the idea that Busuttil’s refusal to debate was purely a matter of protocol. He argued that at the time, no one from the Nationalist Party was willing to face him in a live setting.

"Busuttil did not debate me because, at the time, no one from the PN would face me in a debate; I was like a cyclone," he said, adding he was never "the easiest person to debate".

In a video post uploaded later on Monday, Debono claimed he used Labour, not the other way around.

"No one uses me. If anyone used anyone, I feel I used PL that day," he said.