Dirty tricks, mud-slinging and a big dose of rhetoric are part of political parties’ armouries, more so during an electoral campaign.

The electorate is, most of the time, willing to accept that. What, however, it will definitely resist – and certainly penalise the unrepentant defaulters – is when its intelligence is not respected. Two issues that have been dominating the political scene in recent days are a case in point.

One is the controversy surrounding Labour Party deputy leader Toni Abela following the release of a compromising tape recording on ‘problems’ he was handling regarding certain behaviour in party clubs.

The other is the fallout from the oil buying scandal investigation, which has already seen several people being arraigned and charged with fraud, bribery and money laundering.

The Abela saga is being ‘serialised’. The electorate would have preferred being presented with all the facts at one go, giving them time to make up their minds.

What many people have not appreciated is the manner in which Dr Abela tries to defend himself. As the top official responsible for the party’s clubs, he should have immediately assumed full responsibility for grossly mishandling a delicate situation. Trying to force it down people’s throat that he tried to act like the good father and solve the matter internally has just not washed.

The matter is further exacerbated by the Labour leader’s declarations that are at best confusing and at worst misleading to the electorate.

How can he credibly say that he was talking about the wrong club?

Are reports about ‘shady’ behaviour at Labour clubs so common that even the leader gets confused?

Did he not read Dr Abela’s interview with The Sunday Times?

For everybody’s sake, including itself, the Labour Party should have come clean on this matter rather than allow it to linger on to election day with no solution.

The statement made by Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt, that he had forgotten to declare a Swiss account – which, he says he had inherited from his father – is also damning.

To start with, even if one does forget about one’s Swiss account, it is likely that one’s attention would be refreshed occasionally through communications from the bank or the account manager.

Then, one would be expected to, at least once a year, look into one’s assets when filling the income tax return. In the case of MPs, they also have to make an annual declaration of such assets.

Such situations can only lead to further deterioration in the level of trust the people have in politicians. Which is why party leaders should make it a point to fall on defaulters like a ton of bricks. Otherwise, they all stand to lose. Indeed, we all stand to lose.

Politicians should be role models and, as such, they must behave in an impeccable way, even in private matters that are related to the exercise of their professional duties.

We are all human and, therefore, we are all prone to make mistakes. It is when we persist in our mistakes that things become diabolical.

The advent of the social media and so-called citizen journalism exposes politicians to far more scrutiny than ever before. There are eyes and ears everywhere and the means to name and shame go beyond the traditional press.

In the circumstances, therefore, the last thing an erring politician should do is insult the intelligence of the public.