Not so long ago, when values meant something, Boy Scouts used to have Bob a job week, where they would go around, knock on people’s doors and ask whether any services were required against a donation that went to the Scouts movement.

Today, if you want a lucrative job, all you have to do is see how to catch a minister’s eye. You don’t need any special qualifications to land you jobs with salaries higher than the prime minister’s. Just look at the appointments in bogus government organisations such as Project Green, where salaries of €70,000 are the order of the day for ‘managers’ just out of university.

In other institutions, it’s more of the same. Look at the way the Malta Financial Services Authority was run by Joseph Cuschieri, who brought in a friend to work with him and with whom he travelled around the globe.

People have become almost immune to such scandals because they are too common. But when a minister gives his girlfriend a highly-paid phantom job and then another minister moves her to his ministry and gives her a similar phantom job with an even higher salary things start getting complicated. More so in the same week when people were told they have to work an extra year before getting their pension.

When is enough enough under this most corrupt government in the history of Maltese politics? As the Maltese saying goes, il-ħuta minn rasha tinten (the fish stinks from its head). We have a prime minister, who, for the first time in history, was exposed to be in business with alleged criminals, a prime minister who purchased property and land to develop it while in office, and a prime minister who bought a villa without a permit for a fraction of its real value – with the permit issued shortly after he bought it.

While pensioners have to be content with an increase in their pensions that barely allows them to make ends meet, the minister’s girlfriend was given close to €70,000 for not doing what she should have been doing. While children struggle at school to pass exams hoping to land a job, we have an unqualified person being given a job that pays more than what the prime minister gets.

We have a prime minister who takes large delegations on long-haul trips, costing thousands to taxpayers, while people struggle to keep up with the cost of living.

People feel cheated- Nathaniel Attard

We have a film commissioner who finds it acceptable to spend hundreds of thousands on events that just pour money into the pockets of friends of friends but which give nothing back to the country – and the tourism minister and the prime minister defend him. Considering the salary the minister gave his girlfriend, who later became his wife, it is no surprise they defend such lavish spending.

People have been taken to court for shoplifting food items or drinks costing under €100. But it’s okay to give a minister’s girlfriend €200 a day, weekends included. It’s okay for her to tour the world and to go and watch football matches with the minister because she is his PA. €70,000 for her is fine. But there are no funds for MCAST lecturers. Not enough funds to hire more doctors so that patients won’t have to wait 14 hours to be seen at Mater Dei Hospital. There is no money for a new mental hospital.

People feel cheated. People have had to pay exorbitant fines to regularise a window that was not built according to a permit. People have been charged with money laundering simply for cashing cheques and charging a fee for cashing them. People who get a parking ticket have to pay up. Parents have to pay hefty fines for not sending their children to school.

The list is endless. But a minister who employs his unqualified girlfriend and a minister who then employs her and gives her a pay rise get away by just saying “sorry”. Robert Abela said he considers the ‘apology’ to be sufficient. His office approved the jobs and the lucrative pay.

The million-dollar question is: what do Clayton Bartolo, Amanda Muscat and Clint Camilleri know about Abela that keeps him from acting like a prime minister?

Nathaniel Attard is the PN director of communications and spokesperson for the opposition leader.