An amoral leadership has only one outcome

Mafia boss Toto Riina was responsible for multiple serious crimes, including ordering the assassination of magistrates Giuseppe Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Can you imagine the Italian prime minister maintaining regular communication with Riina after he was indicted and then telling his citizens it’s absolutely fine because Riina hadn’t yet been convicted? Or that he talks to everyone?

Everybody knows that any contact bet­ween Keith Schembri and the prime minister is entirely wrong. Schembri is not only accused of fraud, corruption, money laundering, criminal association and other serious crimes but he notoriously “lost” his phone minutes before his arrest, in an alleged attempt to conceal evidence and pervert the course of justice.

Schembri wrote a letter to the man now charged with masterminding Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, encouraging him to incriminate Chris Cardona. Yet, our prime minister sees nothing wrong in maintaining regular contact with Schembri because “he’s just accused, not convicted”. So why did he force Schembri out of the party in 2000?

Abela communicates with “everybody… with hundreds of persons”, was his lame defence, “even with opposition MPs”. That’s the same excuse Edward Zammit Lewis came up with when trying to justify his close inappropriate relationship with Yorgen Fenech.

Abela’s continued links to Schembri are far more worrying. He is the prime minister, not just a cabinet minister. And Schembri has been charged with several serious crimes.

Even Joseph Muscat terminated his WhatsApp chats with Fenech when Times of Malta reported that “a major businessman” was a main suspect in the Caruana Galizia murder investigation.

Abela has absolutely no moral compass. He relies entirely on court judgments to decide whether he should sever ties with criminally accused persons like Schembri. For Abela, as long as Schembri isn’t convicted, there’s absolutely nothing wrong in maintaining close contact with him, despite the seriousness of Schembri’s charges.

Abela pretends to fail to understand the clear distinction between what is criminal and what is legal from what is right or wrong. He asserts that if no court has identified a crime and convicted the perpetrator, then there’s nothing wrong.

For a start, despite a damning FIAU report about Schembri, for years on end the police failed to take any action.

Besides, indicted persons are often acquitted not because they aren’t guilty but because of technicalities – the wrong date of the crime on the charge sheet, a misspelt name, a prosecution error. Any slight mistake on the prosecution’s side may be sufficient to get you acquitted.

Delays in prosecution may lead to dismissal of the case as time-barred. That doesn’t mean the accused didn’t commit the crime. And it certainly doesn’t mean the prime minister should keep exchanging messages with the accused.

Yet, that is the bar Abela sets himself. He abrogates all responsibility for making moral judgements to the court. That’s a convenient excuse.

The reality is that Abela knows full well that maintaining contact with Schembri is not only wrong but is damaging our country. Even key members of his party are disgusted. That’s why Abela kept it secret. We only know about it because the manipulative Schembri leaked it.

Robert Abela’s actions aren’t just stupid, they are reckless, they’re wrong and they’re deeply disturbing- Kevin Cassar

Abela’s irritation with the reporter asking him the question is evident. He’s visibly uncomfortable. His hostile body language, his threatening comments, the tone of his voice all scream rage. Abela realises he’s been maliciously put in this embarrassing situation by Schembri. Schembri knows too much – and Abela knows it too and shows it with his meticulous choice of words when referring to Schembri. He treats Schembri with kids’ gloves, careful not to upset him.

From Abela’s response it’s clear who’s in control in that relationship. Abela claimed he’s being transparent. Admitting to his close relationship with Schembri, after the latter spilled the beans, isn’t being transparent – it’s being caught red-handed. Abela would be transparent if he revealed what exactly he’s discussing with the accused, if he published those “messages”, which he should. Private, unofficial exchanges, especially through encrypted private channels, are the antithesis of transparency. They’re designed for secrecy.

According to Schembri, he is “helping Robert”. Schembri isn’t changing Robert’s light bulbs or cleaning the windows at his properties. He’s helping him with political decisions. Abela must be sharing privileged information, which he has access to in his position as prime minister, with a man accused of leaking secret information to those accused of Caruana Galizia’s assassination.

Abela’s communicating with the man who secretly communicated with Armin Ernst behind then-deputy prime minister Chris Fearne’s back. Ernst is accused of money laundering, conspiracy, bribery, trading in influence and misappropriation of taxpayers’ money – hundreds of millions of it. Schembri used a fake e-mail to communicate about the Vitals scam.

Meanwhile, Schembri is still winning lucrative contracts from Abela’s government. Abela’s continued direct communication with Schembri also raises concerns about serious conflicts of interest. Abela hasn’t clarified the nature of his relationship with Schembri, even now that it’s public knowledge, raising suspicions of inappropriate influence, favouritism and potential attempts to interfere with justice.

Abela’s relationship with Schembri sends the message that the prime minister believes Schembri did nothing wrong, or that, even if he did, Abela doesn’t care and still backs him. In a country where the ruling party voted overwhelmingly to protect Schembri in parliament, and where law enforcement slept on a damning FIAU report for years, the potential political influence on the course of justice is very real.

In a state where the prime minister personally attacks and intimidates magistrates and uses his party machine to persecute them when their decisions are not to his liking, Abela’s links to Schembri raise concerns about potential interference with the course of justice.

Schembri is playing Abela like a fiddle. And that, in itself, should raise red flags. Schembri still exerts all the power, he knows where all the skeletons are buried.

For a country that has recently been greylisted over anti-money laundering concerns, having a prime minister maintaining regular contact with a man charged with money laundering, bribery, corruption, leaking secret state information and being part of a criminal organisation casts serious shadows over the whole country.

Abela’s actions aren’t just stupid, they are reckless, they’re wrong and they’re deeply disturbing. Amoral leadership is bound to fail, often with catastrophic consequences for the whole country.