If Robert Abela persists with his plan to nominate Edward Zammit Lewis as a judge of the European Union General Court, he will, in a way, be emulating the Maltese character Ġaħan.
Much like Ġaħan dragged the front door to church, once his mother had told him to pull the door behind him on leaving home, the former Labour minister and sitting MP will be taking his baggage to Luxembourg. The sins of the scandal-ridden past and present administration he forms/formed part of will, by implication, be also in tow.
For the record, it was Zammit Lewis who once spoke of the “Laburist Ġaħan” (Labourite fool), only interested in politicians able to dispense favours and patronage.
The Nationalist Party described the proposed nomination as “an insult to all those who believe in justice”.
Rule of law NGO Repubblika wrote to the chairperson of the panel that assesses candidates to the General Court, saying why it feels Zammit Lewis is “unsuited”.
Throughout his career, it said, he “demonstrated an appalling lack of judgement, an unwillingness to act with conscience and preserve the rule of law while in public office, and a willingness to retain inappropriate and secret relationships despite the manifest conflict between those relationships and his ethical and constitutional duties as a holder of public office”.
The justice minister defined the letter as “misguided and convoluted” and “a personal attack intended to undermine a possible Maltese candidacy…”
Together with the Court of Justice, the General Court is one of the EU’s courts making up the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The purpose of these courts is to ensure a uniform interpretation and application of EU law.
It was Zammit Lewis who once spoke of the 'Laburist Ġaħan' (Labourite fool), only interested in politicians able to dispense favours and patronage
Therefore, apart from having a high level of expertise in EU law, the candidates are expected to be “of high moral character and enjoy independence beyond doubt” – as also indicated in the local call for applications – and be individuals whose independence, impartiality, probity and integrity are beyond reproach.
Politicians and NGOs that raise governance and rule-of-law issues at the proper international fora – like, say, the European Parliament or the Council of Europe – are often branded traitors, enemies of the people by the government. Yet, here is none other than the prime minister engineering a potentially embarrassing situation he could have easily done without. This would be nothing than self-inflicted.
The justice minister told the EU Court of Justice registrar he expects all candidates to be treated fairly.
The panel that selects the successful candidates is hardly likely to discriminate against anybody solely on the basis of a letter.
However, the panel members will, no doubt, consider information coming from other sources, like the conclusions of the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination; a politician’s voting patterns in parliament and public statements and any relationships a candidate could have or had with individuals facing serious criminal charges.
There must have been a reason why the electorate gave Zammit Lewis a hard time in the 2017 election and why Abela left him out of his cabinet.
Abela may still save Malta from another embarrassing moment.
When will the government learn that prestigious international posts should not simply be occupied by its own henchmen, and consider the fact that there are many fine, qualified and skilled men and women who have simply been elbowed out of the system because they do not share the same political allegiance?