The steps to the Auberge de Castille were covered in figurative blood on Saturday afternoon, as activists sought to remind Robert Abela’s government about the dangers of reputational laundering.
The initiative by #Occupyjustice activists was intended to draw attention to talk of Joseph Muscat, Rosianne Cutajar and Chris Cardona returning to the Labour Party.
All three ended their times as top Labour politicians in ignominious circumstances. While Muscat and Cardona stepped out of politics altogether, Cutajar remains an independent MP.
“Reputational laundering and the resultant perpetuation of impunity for corruption, abuse and murder are simply not on,” the activists said in a statement following their demonstration.
Activists placed the image of a washing machine in front of the main door of the Auberge de Castille, which serves as the Office of the Prime Minister. A red cloth, depicting blood, was draped over the stairs, flowing out of the symbolic washing machine’s drain.
Printouts reminding viewers of various political scandals of the past years – from ’17 Black’ to ‘Panama’ or ‘Egrant’ – were dotted along the stairs.
In a statement, #Occupyjustice said that Muscat’s premiership had been characterised by rampant corruption, abuse of power and the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The former prime minister is currently considering whether or not to run as a Labour candidate for MEP in the upcoming June elections.
Cardona left politics after he was alleged to have been involved in Caruana Galizia’s murder and had also played a key role in the privatization of state hospitals subsequently declared fraudulent by the courts.
The activists also accused the former minister of having “chickened out” of following through with a libel case he filed after Caruana Galizia reported that he visited a brothel while on official government business in Germany.
Cardona has not definitively ruled out a return to politics at some point in the future.
Cutajar – who is believed to be close to reinstatement as a Labour MP – had accepted a fake job as a consultant and pocketed thousands from Yorgen Fenech, the man accused of masterminding the murder of Caruana Galizia, activists said.
“Cutajar chose to not disclose her relationship with Fenech, while simultaneously defending his interests in Parliament and at the Council of Europe,” the group said.
“We demand that Robert Abela, instead of disrespecting the electorate and enabling evidently corrupt individuals, puts a stop to this shameless reputational laundering, impunity for corruption and abuse of power, and that full justice is sought for such crimes, so that Malta's once-good reputation may start the journey towards restoration after years of filth,” activists said, adding that they expected, deserved and demanded better.