For more than five years, the Labour administration lived in denial by failing to assume responsibility for Malta’s fall into disgrace as a result of corrupt practices that have implicated senior government and business figures. The impunity of politicians who abuse their power, the failure to ensure that the country’s institutions operate free from government intrusion, and the frequent disregard for the rule of law will remain outstanding threats to political normality and democracy unless tackled head on.
The wind of change may have started to blow. In the last few weeks, the prime minister has taken some essential political decisions to start addressing the serious problem of corruption. Hope has been raised that this sad episode in Malta’s political history will one day be closed.
In the space of a few days, Chris Cardona, the deputy leader of the PL, was forced to resign from parliament and his party post, and Konrad Mizzi, the former high ranking minister linked to various scandals that erupted in the last seven years, was kicked out of the PL parliamentary group. A new police commissioner has been appointed while a new senior investigator has replaced the much-critciised police official responsible for investigating financial crime.
These changes signal an encouraging shift towards a more determined effort to address the severe reputational damage that Malta has suffered in the last few years.
Muscat should have no role, in whichever form, in the public governance of this country. His presence only perpetuates the country’s ill-repute
But the clean-up is only just beginning. Former prime minister Joseph Muscat, who presided over that dark period, still sits on the government’s backbenches. Robert Abela appears to believe that his predecessor has done enough to atone for the scandals that happened under his watch. These scandals ranged from the murder of a journalist to the plundering of millions of euros in taxpayers’ money. Under Muscat’s leadership, Malta experienced an economic boom but also suffered from state capture as private interests prevailed over the public interest.
As long as Muscat continues to sit on the government’s benches, Malta’s reputation will continue to suffer because the stories that link him, and his close associates, to abuse of power will keep erupting. The scandals surrounding the privatisation of the electricity generation facilities, the granting of the management of three major public hospitals to private operators and the investment by Enemata in a wind farm in Montenegro are some of the major abuses of power that characterised Muscat’s premiership. They are by no means closed chapters.
These scandals must be investigated, (this time not just by the media) and those who may have abused their positions of trust have to be brought to justice. Muscat failed to address these scandals effectively, believing that electoral success gave him the right to forgive the sins of his administration without the need for atonement. He now tries to reinvent himself as a political and economic consultant peddling his services to the government.
Muscat should have no role, in whichever form, in the public governance of this country. His presence only perpetuates the country’s ill-repute.
The new police commissioner has a long list of unfinished business that has been outstanding for too long. Intensifying investigations into alleged abuse of power should be one of his top priorities. Closure demands that those responsible for abuse of public funds be held accountable. Another area that needs to be addressed with determination is the alleged financing of political parties by rogue business people who may have linked anti-democratic conditions to their donations.
The wind of change is picking up but it needs to gain strength to sweep all the rot and cobwebs from the corridors of power.