Joseph Muscat is set to have the most flawed political legacy of Malta’s prime ministers. Murder and corruption have been linked to his closest circle. So far, it is only links and allegations, but he is leaving under a dark cloud of suspicion and regret.
In his televised resignation speech and in his final Sunday visits to Labour Party clubs, Muscat has tried to shape the story of his legacy, recalling the achievements of his administration. But history is evaluated and written by others.
His henchmen are also attempting to shine a positive light on his legacy. One viewpoint being nurtured in his defence is that he “distributed wealth to the people”. But Muscat is no Robin Hood.
He was the head of a tight and putrid web of bad governance, which he will only reluctantly let go under extreme pressure.
It is hard to believe that Muscat missed anything happening right under his nose, and that he did not pick up the scent of wrongdoing, as he would have us think. He is too close to his aide Keith Schembri, and far too shrewd, for that to be credible.
Muscat should resign immediately. Each day fosters more unrest and uncertainty. People have had enough and his time is up. Unfortunately, instead of the early handover to Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne which is widely hoped for, a contest has been triggered.
This has delayed Muscat’s disappearance until mid-January, after the election for the new Labour leader.
Not that Muscat should disappear entirely. There are plenty of questions left for him to answer about his administration. The buck stops with him. For example, the phantom government job given to Melvin Theuma, paid but not required to report to work, is small compared to large-scale corruption or murder, but it is enough to show how rotten the system is.
Leave aside for a moment that Theuma’s ‘job’ was allegedly linked to the plotting and scheming behind the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The ease with which this fake employment was given to him suggests an established practice of dishing out jobs or favours and abusing government funds, which in itself should make big heads roll.
When questioned by the police, the head of the government agency which granted the phantom job to Theuma reportedly said that it was requested through the Office of the Prime Minister. That exposes blatant abuse at the top of government.
This is not a total surprise. The worrying signals given out by Muscat and his gang were already picked up by many people years ago, including by Caruana Galizia. The stench of bad governance and corruption was potent, well before the unravelling of the 17 Black connection over this last year.
Nobody can say that they were not warned. The Nationalist Party’s electoral billboards of 2017, for example, focused on the Muscat-Schembri-Mizzi trio and were placed on main roads for all to see. They were harbingers of recent events and revelations.
But while the Opposition under Simon Busuttil was quite different to what is offered by the PN today, yet a landslide of voters still gave Muscat, Schembri and Konrad Mizzi the benefit of the doubt, driven by motives or emotions which are hard to analyse.
Conflicts of interest and unethical behaviour are widespread and have been allowed to fester
Across the political spectrum now, there is talk of betrayal. This includes prominent supporters of the Labour Party, many of whom are upset, shamed, hurt, angry or grieving. There has been an outpouring of statements, posts, interviews, letters and articles.
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, however, is trying to persuade the nation that the State institutions have been working well all along. He said that the progress being made on the murder investigation shows that “the rule of law works, that the institutions are doing their job and that most of the criticism levelled against them in the past was unfounded”.
But if the investigation is being conducted so well, why have both contenders for Muscat’s post, Chris Fearne and Robert Abela, swiftly promised to replace Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar once elected?
Moreover, the three men who allegedly killed Caruana Galizia were apparently tipped off before the police raided the Marsa potato shed where they were arrested. The alleged mastermind, Yorgen Fenech, was informed about the raid beforehand. How does that reflect on the functioning and independence of the institutions?
There were also attempts to spin the direction of the murder investigation. The managing editor of Malta Today, Saviour Balzan, has revealed that Schembri pushed the theory that Caruana Galizia’s murder was linked to fuel smugglers, and that people in high places in government and the police were fed this line too.
That was not the only spin. Journalist Manuel Delia wrote in his blog that the Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet recently reported that a British public relations firm hired by the Maltese government was spreading misinformation about Caruana Galizia among journalists in Brussels.
Having lost all trust and authority, the sooner Muscat leaves his office at Castille the better. For the government to regain credibility, together with the entire country, the next prime minister must focus on cleaning up the mess and present some kind of convincing reform.
The current political crisis shows that, should a prime minister be unable or unwilling to uphold good governance, our political system falls short. The prime minister exercises the powers of an ‘unfettered elected dictator’, wrote Kevin Aquilina, professor of law at the University of Malta, in this newspaper last week.
Malta’s reputation has nose-dived. Good governance must be tackled head on and restored. That will not be easy. Conflicts of interest and unethical behaviour are widespread and have been allowed to fester. The political will to raise standards is weak.
Another pressing issue, when the country comes up for air after nearly drowning in this muck, is the environment. The weaknesses of the planning sector are merely a reflection of the clientelism, corruption and partisan tribalism of the political system.
Attacking ‘big business’ in general is the wrong target. The government must promote commerce. The real problem is not politics and good business, but politics and crime. Schembri and Fenech do not represent the business sector. They were close friends, apparently, with one of them at the heart of government and pulling all the strings. And working cheek by jowl with Muscat.
The country has reached a crossroads. People have been knocked sideways. The political system has failed us.