On December 27, Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech claimed that Malta is no longer a normal country. Our country is going through a rough period where the crooks are still around and where impunity still reigns.

One may ask whether the statement made by the leader of the opposition is a correct one. The stories of the last few weeks provide testimony to that statement. Let me list some of them.

Only a few weeks ago, Robert Abela decided to undermine the public inquiry over the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

As new details unfolded and new evidence emerged, it became manifestly clear that Abela was feeling very uncomfortable with the facts that were coming to light. Facts which bring the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and its cover-up ever so close to Castille. Ever so close to the centre of political power in Malta. Ever so close to a clan of crooks.

In a normal country, a prime minister would not attempt to hinder the progress of an inquiry that was shedding light on a tragedy which shook a whole nation. However, ours is not a normal country and, being so, Abela went out of his way to publicly declare that he wants the inquiring judges to wrap up the proceedings notwithstanding that he had declared they need more time to conclude.

So much for normality.

A few weeks ago, Joseph Muscat was summoned to testify in a court case filed by my colleague Adrian Delia over the Vitals Global Healthcare hospital deal.

The Vitals saga is another instance where all the elements exist to conclude that this was yet another corrupt deal. Any prime minister on whose watch this scandal occurred would make sure to attend a pre-scheduled court sitting to clear his name to get the record straight.

But, in this abnormal country, he failed to attend the court sitting. He instead jetted off to Dubai to attend what has been dubbed “the most exclusive and influential gathering of family wealth ever held”.

That’s the level of sleaze in this country.

On the very same day, Konrad Mizzi failed to attend the same court sitting, informing the court that he was suffering from COVID symptoms. If Joseph can get away with it so can Konrad.

In a recent interview, newly-appointed Energy Minister Miriam Dalli claimed that the Electrogas power station project is beneficial to the country.

Little does the new minister realise that this project has been scrutinised by the Auditor General who concluded that the Electrogas selection process, piloted by Nexia BT officials, was an abusive one, where conditions were altered and modified to accommodate the consortium and exclude others.

Little did the minister note that the Auditor General concluded that the way her government issued guarantees for banking facilities granted to the consortium could have seriously destabilised the country’s finances.

Little did the minister note that we taxpayers are forking out millions in payments to the Electrogas consortium for very expensive electricity and,  in reality, our country is today dependent on ‘Lawrence Gonzi’s’ interconnector.

The minister failed to explain how this project is so beneficial to the people when her government has failed to collect millions of euros due in penalties from Electrogas.

Needless to say, the prime minister does not realise that Cutajar’s position as parliamentary secretary is untenable- Beppe Fenech Adami

Finally, and most importantly, the minister ignored the evidence that has emerged pointing to the motive for Caruana Galizia’s assassination being, in all probability, the Electrogas project and the corruption surrounding it.

In this country of sleaze and corruption, the minister claimed that the project is beneficial to the people. How insensitive and disgusting. As Grech said, this is not a normal country.

Only a few days ago, a shocking story emerged detailing how Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar pocketed thousands of euros in brokerage fees.

The story goes that she, together with a close friend of hers, brokered the sale of a property in Mdina to Yorgen Fenech, now charged with being connected to Caruana Galizia’s murder.

In this most unique arrangement (where brokerage was paid before the final deed was signed), it is claimed that Cutajar and her friend pocketed between them close to €100,000. It seems that this amount was never declared.

Needless to say, the prime minister does not realise that Cutajar’s position as parliamentary secretary is untenable. Instead, in this country of abnormality, he still defends her.

It seems he cannot do otherwise. They are all compromised.

In the same week, another story emerged. Everyone has heard of James Piscopo, another close buddy of Muscat who was appointed as CEO of the Malta Labour Party soon after Muscat was elected party leader.

Readers will recall that Piscopo was appointed CEO at Transport Malta during Muscat’s first term as prime minister. Many claim he was the de facto minister for roads.

Joe Mizzi, minister at the time, had no control over Piscopo, who was the person in charge of the millions upon millions of public funds spent on our roads infrastructure.

Just after the last election,  Piscopo was kicked sideways into another very powerful position – CEO at the Lands Department.

The media now reports that the police are investigating him on claims that, like his buddies Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and Mr Egrant before him, he also has bank accounts in foreign jurisdictions where hundreds of thousands of euros have allegedly been deposited.

In this abnormal country, Piscopo was not kicked out of office immediately. Instead, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri came to his rescue claiming that “following a meeting I had with James Piscopo, he has denied these allegations and informed me that the police have not made contact with him either”.

In view of this, Piscopo was not to be suspended. A few days later, Piscopo declared that, out of his free will, he would not seek an extension of his present contract as Lands Authority CEO.

What a sad joke. This would never happen in a normal country.

Lastly, in a normal country, a prime minister would not intervene with the Commissioner of Inland Revenue ‘to report’ his political opponent on tax matters. This is exactly what Abela did. This is not how things work in modern democracies.

When US President Richard Nixon was caught illegally soliciting investigations into his political opponents, he was made to resign.

The above six episodes happened over a span of a few weeks. Grech is so right. Malta is no longer a normal country.

Beppe Fenech Adami is PN home affairs spokesman.