Several episodes over the last few days have caused people to fear for their safety and raised the question of whether delinquency is out of control. 

The most serious and senseless was the death of a young woman on her 30th birthday, run over in Gżira by a driver who tested positive for cocaine and alcohol. Around the same period, two court cases featured similar tales of fatalities on the road, with pedestrians mowed down by drivers running amok.

A few days later, a 15-year-old boy’s leg was broken when a gang of youths attacked him as he was minding his own business in Valletta. It was followed by reports of similar attacks. 

The incident prompted Prime Minister Robert Abela to confess he was not comfortable letting his young daughter walk the streets of Valletta alone.

The Saturday evening assault on Merchants Street, Valletta, left a 15-year-old boy in hospital with a broken leg.

Like the collapsed building at Corradino that claimed the life of a young man last month, the structures that should be in place to guarantee a decent and safe life to all seem to be falling apart.

Nobody should be surprised. Everybody has a lot to answer for.

As standards kept falling and discipline became less lax along the years, society has hardly lifted a finger. It was only after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 that civil society really started to make some noise and individuals stood up to be counted.

Students too remained silent for too many years. It is, therefore, a breath of fresh air to now see them calling for a reform of the judiciary and police systems, calling the exercise “beyond necessary”.

Political parties in government and most of the institutions are, perhaps, the biggest culprits. The first have always been obsessed with power and the second with appeasing their political masters.

This is a recipe for disaster. Many saw it coming. Some, like former Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, advised caution. All wrongdoers must be punished, otherwise the rule of law will be substituted by the rule of delinquency, he had ominously warned just before he retired in late 2017.

The network of friends of friends, the expectation of impunity, the state capture of key institutions on which rest the rule of law, and incompetent politicians have changed the reputation of this once safe country.

Politicians of all shades and administrations have a lot to answer for. In Joseph Muscat’s circles, impunity became the watchword. 

As the metaphorical fires burn across the island, his successor has been forced to speak about the subject. The problem is that he appears to be pointing his finger at everybody – the police, the courts, parents, citizens – bar himself and the government he heads.

In his attempt to defend the indefensible, he even indicted the politicians he himself chose to be politically responsible for the police and the courts. If, as he claims, the police and the courts have all the resources they need, it is the duty of his justice and home affairs ministers to ensure they deliver.

Ultimately, the country is waiting for him to take the necessary action to stop the ‘might is right’ mindset which is visible the minute we walk out of our doors. People act this way because they know they can get away with it. 

Shortly before she was blown up, Caruana Galizia had warned of a desperate situation where crooks were all over the place. Just days ago, writing on Times of Malta, writer and historian Aleks Farrugia observed that, at times, he tends to think “that if you aren’t a bully, in this country you have to live your life in constant fear”.

There is clear and present danger. Parliamentarians from both sides must drop their usual business and act jointly to curb the culture of delinquency: “a definite matter of urgent public importance”.