In this column, on more than one occasion, I harshly criticised the sale of passports/citizenship scheme. This was the ominous sign that the Joseph Muscat administration deliberately gave the Maltese at the very beginning of that legislature: our soul is for sale, so is everything else. And, true to form, everything else was sold!
Lawyers, accountants, auditors, real estate agents of all shades of colours jumped on the passport gravy train. Their vision statement was: money makes the world go round and everything else can go to hell. They wilfully became part of this legalised dishonesty.
Malta’s reputation was dragged in the mud but who cares, its creators said, since so many were slurping up the money? Malta was condemned internationally but the ci-ching of euros was more important than the sound of the voices of critics and the myriad condemnations in different international fora. We prostituted ourselves but, you know, prostitution is the oldest profession, supporters quipped. So, there is value in that as well, the money grabbers believed.
Many considered our country to be a pariah state which defiled not only its soul but that of the European Union, since selling our citizenship meant selling the citizenship of the EU. The passport scheme was also one of the building blocks that led to our greylisting. The people who lined their pockets by this scheme will not be too bothered. They have buttered their bread very well in Muscatomics, built on right-wing neo-liberal ideology.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship, Alex Muscat is responsible for this cesspool. He felt that a bit of reputational laundering would do him good, particularly if it could also endear him with his constituents – Mosta church is to benefit from €850,000 raised from the sale of passport funds for a new floodlighting project. He remembered the Italian adage: “Quando non posso più ritorno al buon Gesù.”.He acted accordingly and, very unfortunately, his bait was swallowed by the Church.
Like many others, I am sorely disappointed, shocked and saddened.
The Irish poet Brendan Behan had a very poor estimation of critics. He wrote that “Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it’s done, they’ve seen it done every day but they’re unable to do it themselves.”
This description, no doubt, fits many a critic. But there are critics whose words are wise ones inspired by their love for the organisation they belong too. Desmond Zammit Marmará is one of them. I recently interviewed him for Newsbook.com.mt. He was, is and will probably always be a staunch Labour supporter.
I do not agree with those who are calling for the resignation of President George Vella- Fr Joe Borg
Because he loves his party, Desmond is ready both to publicly defend it and to publicly criticise it. His statement, during the interview, that there is no place for Joseph Muscat in the Labour Party results from the fact that he is more loyal to the party than to any individual who forms part of it. Desmond could have kept his silence to avoid the barrage of insults addressed to him by the army of trolls.
Desmond’s loyalty to the core beliefs of the Labour Party is a principled one. During the same interview, he drew at least one red line. He will not vote for the party if it favours abortion.
In all political parties, NGOs, institutions – secular and ecclesiastical – we need more people who are ready to criticise and show loyal dissent. We also need less people who say: “My party, - NGO, church etc – right or wrong.”
President George Vella was a member of the Joseph Muscat cabinet who was damningly condemned by the judges who penned the report of the public inquiry.
The members of Muscat’s cabinet were collectively responsible for the lack of action and no member of the cabinet can exonerate himself (paragraph 23). In paragraph 26, the judges say that all ministers, in one way or another, were in fact supporting the prime minister’s decision to do nothing to safeguard the rule of law. They add that the strong sense of impunity that had been created had the tacit approval, if not blessing, of all the cabinet. The behaviour of the cabinet ministers is described by the judges as an act of grave omission amounting to an illicit action that should be censured.
I have no doubt that President Vella is an honest person and that he personally never committed any corrupt act. So how come he did not see the growing state of impunity and smell the stench of corruption surrounding him?
The country deserves an explanation and a public apology.
I do believe that the report of the public inquiry should have consequences, that political responsibility should be carried and heads should roll. But I do not believe that the president’s head is one of them. I do not agree with those who are calling for the resignation of President Vella. I do believe that he can still play an important part in the healing of the nation but he can only do this if he faces the truth that he let us down when he behaved the way he behaved as part of Muscat’s cabinet.
Most Maltese would readily and happily let bygones be bygones, if he publicly acknowledges his mistake, apologises and commits himself to embark on a process of national healing based on truth and justice for all. Otherwise, his words about reconciliation and national unity would sound hollow and inane.
President Vella owes all this to himself but, more so, to those of us who still believe he could and should have an important role to play in the process of national healing.