Most people in democracies want their leaders to be assertive enough to take decisions that enable them to move forward on the courses of action generally agreed to by the electors. Put simply, leaders must use their power of office to get the job done.

Unfortunately, in real life, politicians and public officials too often use this power for personal gain, even at the risk of doing great damage to the well-being of the wider society they are supposed to serve. The Electrogas deal is a clear example of this.

That deal was struck during a time when Malta was being subjected to the ambitions of a cabal of leaders whose primary motivation appears to have been the facilitation of corrupt, self-serving deals.

This cabal consisted of a kitchen cabinet and a small group of businessmen who aided and abetted the former prime minister and his chief of staff to abuse the trust of the people who elected them. In the process, a vast amount of tax money was plundered.

The public investigation into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia is revealing the extent of abuse by the Muscat administration in the award of the Electrogas power station contract.

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Alfred Camilleri, testified before the inquiry board that he was opposed to the government providing a bank guarantee to four banks who were financing Electrogas – a company with private shareholders, including Yorgen Fenech, who is now accused of being behind the murder of Caruana Galizia.

Camilleri confirmed that when in September 2017, Bank of Valletta gave notice to the government that Electrogas was not honouring its commitments, there was a risk of dire consequences for the country.

Rating agencies would have considered an Electrogas default as a reason for a downgrade of Malta’s credit rating.    Camilleri gave discreet advice to the finance minister and the cabinet not to proceed with the granting of a guarantee to a private company. Yet, this advice was ignored and the cabinet made this decision a question of policy.

Leaders can delude themselves that they are working for the greater good but engage in behaviour that is morally abhorrent. Such leaders believe they have the right to make exceptions to established rules that are meant to define what is right and what is wrong.

They believe that political power gives them the right to play around with these rules to their ultimate benefit and that of their business cronies.

Case in point: during the time the Electrogas contract was being negotiated, then energy minister Konrad Mizzi asked a Bank of Valletta official to provide him with a character reference on the bank’s letterhead.

Unfortunately, the whole truth about the notorious Electrogas contract is still not known. Only yesterday, police inspector Kurt Zahra said Caruana Galizia had received thousands of emails about the Electrogas deal.

The protagonists in this sad chapter of corrupt governance are still around – a clear sign that holding politicians to account is still alien to Malta’s culture.

When politicians become intoxicated by power and engage in abusive behaviour merely because they can, their followers are often willing to collude and make exceptions. This is the surest way to destroy the moral fabric of our society.

Prime Minister Robert Abela must show that he has what it takes to clean up the political scene from the toxic heritage left behind by his predecessor.

A nation’s ethos is not just about material wealth and quality of life. Its pride does not stem solely from its pace of so-called ‘development’. It is also about moral rectitude.