If a country could make a New Year’s resolution, Malta’s would have to be the creation of new modes of governance that prevent abuse of power on the scale that has caused political turmoil and traumatised and divided a population. 

New Year’s resolutions are notoriously fickle though: the collective effort needed for a national return to health and normality has to last far longer and run far deeper than gym membership usually does. 

Joseph Muscat’s departure within the next two or three weeks is a fundamental first step. However, while we eagerly, though painfully, inch towards finally having a new prime minister, it would be wrong to think that the mere replacement of Muscat by Chris Fearne or Robert Abela will, of itself, be enough to kickstart the needed transformation.

The nation's health is suffering

Meanwhile, the nation’s health is suffering, quite literally. Mental health associations have warned us of the dangers to our well-being posed by the 
tensions generated by the current situation and the sense of moral injury resulting from the institutions’ failure to properly discharge their duties.

Very senior government figures who can normally be relied upon to act in an ethical manner now appear to be implicated in the cover-up of a barbaric assassination.

It is amply clear that a great many criminal, immoral and shady underhand dealings – leading to a heinous murder – have taken place with the complicity and involvement of public officials.

Those paying the price are trusting citizens going about their lives while labouring under the misapprehension that the institutions function normally and reliably – and suddenly discovering that age-old certainties have collapsed, leaving a bewildering sense of insecurity in their wake. 

The psychological and emotional trauma resulting from the nefarious implication in murder of the Office of the Prime Minister will require time and careful handling if healing is to take place.  

Above all, it will require a respect for truth. The many questions about the hows, whys and wherefores have to be answered openly, comprehensively and in detail. The court cases involving the alleged material executors and mastermind of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder should go a long way towards providing answers to a community which is trying to come to terms with the terrible realities that have surfaced with a vengeance over the past few weeks. 

The public inquiry – long overdue – should provide important pointers to whether the State did indeed do all in its power to prevent the murder. 

The inquiry could well pave the way for remedial measures to be taken that would help restore some credibility and sense of trust in the institutions. 
However, the court cases and the public inquiry are not enough. The new prime minister has the unenviable task of initiating the right measures and presiding over structured efforts that would ultimately bring about reconciliation. 

There must be no doubt in people’s minds that the man chosen to lead the party and nation is doing his utmost to ease tensions and restore stability. 

While the whole country will rightly be watchful, it is important he is given the chance to prove himself in the role of catalyst in the healing process. 
Political parties and civil society, particularly those groups leading the public protests which have exerted pressure for positive change, will have a vital role to play in the collaboration required to mend the rifts within our society.

The nation now expects: it expects the new premier to make genuine efforts and take a unified approach towards establishing stability and good governance, and it expects political and civil society groups to support those efforts to the extent that they are honest, credible and put the national interest first.