“Politics, and the corridors of power, particularly, have to be clean of all traces of exercise of power devoid of the basic tenet of the common good and responsibility therefor.”
Those are wise words uttered by President Myriam Spiteri Debono at the opening of the Fondazione Falcone Malta office earlier this month.
It is in that context that the decision vis-à-vis Clayton Bartolo should best be considered.
Bartolo was forced to resign as tourism minister and also told he would no longer be representing the Labour Party in parliament.
Whether such a decision should have been made straight after the commissioner in public life found that he and cabinet colleague Clint Camilleri had abused their powers and breached the code of ethics is perhaps academic at this stage.
Robert Abela says the decision was made “in light of different circumstances”. Though he would not elaborate, he said the decision was made in light of questions sent by Times of Malta to the tourism ministry on November 21.
It was the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit who flagged that Bartolo’s wife – Amanda Muscat – could have received a kickback from a contract awarded by the Malta Tourism Authority.
We will probably never know when the prime minister was informed of the latest scandal, but credit goes to him for doing the right thing. That is what leaders of democratic countries do.
We can only hope that the prime minister was motivated by a genuine determination to stop that rot, and not only because he has ended up with his back against the wall
But the two scandals – the first involving a phantom consultancy job given to Muscat and the ‘kickback’ – prove what has now become an open secret: widespread, ingrained nepotism practised by cabinet and junior ministers.
We can only hope that the prime minister was motivated by a genuine determination to stop that rot, and not only because he has ended up with his back against the wall. If so, it would mean he has set a precedent that would give a boost to good governance and raise the bar when it comes to standards in public life. We also need to see whether Bartolo follows a litany of politicians who fail the public test and are eventually kicked upstairs and rewarded with a better paying job.
In her speech, President Spiteri Debono added: “The smooth functioning of all of society presupposes the existence of values, ingrained in a population’s psyche, moralistic values founded on an appreciation of what constitutes correct behaviour and acceptable standards of behaviour.”
The prime minister has a crucial role in guaranteeing standards remain as high as possible and that all institutions and the four estates can function freely and effectively. In the Bartolo case, the standards commissioner and the independent media had a leading role, notwithstanding all the obstacles thrown in their path, including by the government itself.
Abela still has yet to deal with Clint Camilleri, who is also embroiled in the first scandal. Will the parliamentary committee for standards in public life today only decide that Muscat should return the public funds illegally paid to her? Abela had already accepted Bartolo’s conditional apology before the latest scandal emerged.
It is painfully clear that the people have been wronged repeatedly, with a system of nepotism eroding public trust and fairness. The rot of favouritism must stop. We have seen way too many examples of ministers and their henchmen appointing family members, loyal supporters, and political allies – often inexperienced and unqualified – to roles they have no business holding.
This culture of entitlement, where a Labour Party membership card serves as a golden ticket for jobs, favours, or “alleged’ kickbacks, has gone on for far too long.