Events over the past few weeks have indeed been unique and dramatic. A prominent business magnate was found to be in cahoots with those close to the powers-that-be in order to assassinate a journalist who had revealed the existence of off-shore companies in Panama and elsewhere held by the higher echelons of government.

We saw the chief of staff of the prime minister receive at Castille a middleman involved in the journalist’s murder, finding time not only to grant him a sinecure phantom job at public expense but also a tour of the inner chambers of government’s seat of power.

We have a Cabinet minister who, fearing that he is about to be framed by someone within the innermost circles of government, requests protection from the Speaker of the House of Representatives. A memory stick and an iPhone belonging to Keith Schembri go missing, the former at police headquarters.

We have new revelations from the Egrant Report, now published in full thanks to the Opposition’s efforts, recommending investigations on money laundering against officers of Nexia BT, who for some time enjoyed office space at the Office of the Prime Minister – a private company ensconced in a public building, presumably free of charge.

The Nationalist Party in government was never guilty of such behaviour, even though its peccadillos were depicted as gross mortal sins

One might go on and on, but there is enough for the mind to boggle. Shakespeare’s statement that “something is rotten in the State of Denmark” suddenly appears, in the light of the horrendous revelations made, to be an understatement.

Facts accepted as true have been revealed to be lies and myths. Others are now considered to be true, such as the following: Simon Busuttil made use of forged documents for political gain: FALSE. The claims of the Opposition requesting political responsibility for those caught hiding offshore companies reflect the negativity of the Opposition: FALSE.

Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi were in a hidden commercial relationship for financial gain: TRUE. The resignation of Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi were related to their links with the mastermind of Caruana Galizia’s assassination: TRUE.

In a feeble attempt to disentangle itself from this horrendous saga, the party in government is repeating the mantra that it was all Schembri’s fault, and that it was he who was too close to big business, not government.

Jettisoning for reasons of political convenience the soulmate of the prime minister is of no avail. Schembri was the most powerful man in Castille, intimately linked to government in general and the prime minister in particular, chosen for his prime position even before the 2013 elections.

Muscat has defended Schembri for nearly three years, namely ever since the Panama Papers revelations implicated his right-hand man. Indeed, in May 2016 the prime minister stated the following in Parliament: “One thing we did, Keith Schembri and I: we succeeded in breaking the monopoly of power that the PN enjoyed for 25 years… and for this you never forgave him!” (Sitting 394).

Out of this mess, a national effort is needed to reform a system that has failed us.

The mantra that “both political parties are the same” dissolves before our very eyes when one absorbs the sacrilegious behaviour of the holders of high office.

The Nationalist Party in government was never guilty of such behaviour, even though its peccadillos were depicted as gross mortal sins.

To show that it does not embrace negativity, even at this political moment which gives it ample opportunity to gain political mileage out of the government’s current predicament, the Opposition has made significant proposals.

Among these proposals is the appointment of members of the judiciary by a committee in which the judiciary enjoys a majority, a requirement that important positions such as that of Chief Justice, Attorney General and Commissioner of Police are supported by two thirds of all the members of the House, and that all government contracts relating to major projects are made public in true transparent fashion.

Indeed, we may rise from the ashes, but only if we are prepared to learn the lessons from recent events.

In the light of recent revelations, the 2017 electoral result was obviously flawed, based on hidden facts and deceit.

A change in administration is needed, not a mere change of prime minister.

Tonio Borg is a former European Commissioner and lecturer in public law at the University of Malta.