Four years ago, on becoming prime minister, Robert Abela promised he would set a new benchmark against which ethics and good governance would be measured.

Abela’s first decisions as prime minister appeared to have the scope of getting the country’s derailed rule of law back on track. There was a sigh of relief when Chris Cardona was removed as party deputy leader and Konrad Mizzi was kicked out of the party’s parliamentary group.

Another welcome move was the removal from office of disgraced police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, who had failed to act on various government scandals and who the ombudsman found to have resorted to unfair practices in promotions for the top brass of the police force.

At the same time, Abela underhandedly rewarded Cutajar with a 20-hour part-time consultancy job that carried a better package than his previous full time one.

Less than three months after taking office, Abela’s ethical values were called into question when he did not lift a finger to help 63 migrants cramped in a leaking rubber boat that had been drifting for several days in Malta’s search and rescue area. Tragic consequences ensued as 12 of these migrants perished at sea.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Abela persistently failed to observe elementary disease prevention measures, such as social distancing and wearing a mask. He proposed a refund of fines issued to people for breaching health regulations that was interpreted as a cheap way of winning their votes.

Abela lacks the charisma of his disgraced predecessor, Joseph Muscat who still enjoys massive support among Labour voters. Muscat is considered to be a threat to Abela’s leadership and, on his part, Abela is cautious in his dealings with Muscat and accommodates him in every possible way.

Muscat received a generous €120,128.40 golden handshake from taxpayers’ money on his exit from politics, equivalent to double his due amount. Abela showed himself to be weak when dealing with Muscat by leaving it entirely to the former prime minister to decide whether to contest the upcoming European Parliament elections on the party’s ticket.

In his effort to remain the central figure in the party, Abela has silenced voices of support for Muscat within Labour. Manuel Cuschieri’s long-time political show on the party’s ONE radio was abruptly terminated, while the former chair of Labour’s media arm, Jason Micallef was sidelined and eventually axed from his position.

Abela strengthened his position as party leader two years ago when he led his party to a landslide electoral victory despite a reduction of 8,269 votes for Labour from the previous election. A high voter abstention, however, worked against the Nationalist Party.

Abela’s success went to his head and his behaviour became even more arrogant and condescending.

Robert Abela’s electoral success went to his head and his behaviour became even more arrogant and condescending- Denis Tanti

He undermined the independence of the judiciary by repeated attempts to intimidate its members and by exerting undue pressure on them when their decisions did not go down well with him or Muscat.

He breached ethics regulations by using taxpayers’ money for personal propaganda and failed to declare his income from his Żejtun villa rented to Russian passport applicants in his tax statement.

He also turned a blind eye to blatant corruption such as in the benefits fraud racket, while he brazenly declared that the responsible minister was doing what was expected of him when he exerted undue pressure for particular individuals to be given their driving licence.

A light on Abela’s deceptive character was recently shed by a scathing 484-page public inquiry report that laid the responsibility for the death of 20-year-old Jean Paul Sofia under the rubble of a collapsed building squarely on the shoulders of the State.

One recalls that, after Miriam Pace lost her life in similar circumstances when her house collapsed in 2020, Abela opposed a public inquiry on grounds that it could interfere with separate legal proceedings. 

Abela also initially blocked a public inquiry into Sofia’s death for the same reason. Abela had an interest in resisting such an inquiry. He knew that it would delve into the failure of responsibilities of the State and uncover serious political and administrative shortcomings that led to the tragedy, as, in fact it has done. So, he argued that a magisterial inquiry would be enough to ensure justice.

All 40 Labour MPs voted against an opposition motion for the setting up of a Sofia public inquiry, even if many of them knew that this was not the right thing to do. A mere five days later Abela – faced with a public uproar over his stand – performed a U-turn and said that he would indeed have the inquiry.

Now Abela is trying to impress by saying that he is determined to ensure immediate implementation of all the recommendations of the inquiry – which he tried so hard to prevent. These recommendations would never have seen the light of day had it not been for the perseverance of Sofia’s parents.

With Abela’s mask fallen off and the truth exposed, it is easy to understand his ulterior motives.

Denis Tanti is a former assistant director at the health ministry.