Malta’s freedom ranking has again been downgraded by a Washington-based democracy monitor, with researchers blaming the “inefficacy of the country’s anti-corruption institutions”.
According to Freedom House’s latest report, released this week, although still regarded as free, Malta’s score dropped one point to 91 out of 100. The country’s score has been on a downward trend for the past couple of years, dropping to 92 points in 2018 from 96 in the previous year.
There were 35 countries that obtained better scores than Malta and another five – Costa Rica, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, St Vincent and Grenadines and Bahamas – being awarded the same points.
Read: Malta falls from 17th to 33rd in world freedom ranking
While country-specific reports have yet to be published, a spokeswoman for the US organisation told Times of Malta Freedom House noted “a number of developments related to corruption in Malta”.
Developments related to corruption
“While Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was exonerated in an investigation related to his alleged ownership in an offshore company, we echoed the European Commission’s concerns over limitations in anti-corruption measures and rule of law,” she said.
“Though there is generally a free and independent media, journalists still face safety concerns and other restrictions.
“We also continue to watch the case against Daphne Caruana Galizia’s alleged killers,” she added.
Sweden, Norway and Finland again rank at the top of the list, scoring full marks.
On the other end of the scale, Syria scored no points and Tibet was given a single point. The two countries were also at the bottom of the list last year.
According to the spokeswoman, the organisation decided to downgrade Malta’s score on corruption from three out of four to two out of four due to “the inefficacy of the country’s anti-corruption institutions”.
“This stems from the fragmentation of different agencies, limited resources devoted to anti-corruption efforts and the lack of safeguards to ensure independence,” she pointed out.
First published in 1973, the ranking, considered a world institution in the sector, provides a tracking of global freedom trends. Freedom House says its ranking is often cited by academics, journalists, activists and even policymakers.