Recently Prime Minister Robert Abela informed us with great pomp that the red line had been crossed and that he does not tolerate anyone who crosses the red line.
But I ask, who crossed the red line?
I suppose the red line was repeatedly crossed by the disgraced ‘triumvirate’ of Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi who presided over the infamous Electrogas, Vitals and Montenegro wind farms deals, as well as by those who murdered a journalist who had the guts to expose the wrong that was being done.
It is impressive how Abela swiftly turned to his minister of justice to order a change in the way magisterial enquiries are carried out just because such inquiries started to produce results which the prime minister was not comfortable with.
If only Abela was as quick to take action against his comrades who systematically and repeatedly defrauded the country and created a crisis in so many important sectors such as health, energy, traffic, education and justice.
If only the prime minister and his team were that swift to reform how the law courts work and to improve the way justice is applied. We are all shocked about the news that someone who may have been involved in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination has been released on bail, as a direct consequence of delays in the system. There are many others who are awaiting prosecution by jury. Why should they be made to wait so long? What if they are innocent? And is it fair that many remain detained because they cannot offer substantial financial guarantees? Justice delayed is justice denied.
Not one week passes without news of a new scandal. We have almost become immune to them.
On too many occasions people, both ordinary citizens as well as politicians, felt comfortable to receive illicit remuneration or state assistance as though it was their divine right. The cases are many and incredibly varied, be it Café Premier, medical visas, work permits, driving licences, false social security benefits, electricity meters, PA permits, or construction on ODZ.
Not one week passes without news of a new scandal- Noel Muscat
Hefty remunerations have been given to people who did not earn or deserve the money. We have a regiment of useless CEOs, commissioners and persons of trust who are paid from taxpayers’ money to serve the party, not to mention an overpopulated, inefficient and useless cabinet that is costing the country millions of euros annually.
This utterly corrupt government is at fault for uselessly increasing the number of unproductive people who are registered on the state’s payroll. Rather than incentivising the private sector and relieving the state’s payroll they did the exact opposite, employing people with the state in lieu of votes with the result that the private sector was forced to ‘import’ workers.
Rather than empowering citizens to have the right to expose and investigate wrongdoing the prime minister is doing the exact opposite.
I ask, why have individuals and the opposition been turning to the law courts for justice to be served? Is there proof of abuse of the system? None at all. So why the fuss? How many times were the police commissioner and attorney general caught napping and passive in front of glaring wrongdoing? God forbid that there weren’t the law courts to turn to as a last resort.
This change that the prime minister wants to introduce reminds me of the ‘Foreign Interference Act’ that another corrupt socialist government had introduced during the not-so-long-ago dark ages, when they wanted to quash democracy, freedom of speech and expression. So much for Labour in government.
The prime minister should have appointed a competent and independent police commissioner and attorney general to faithfully serve their country.
Dear prime minister, you and your government have repeatedly crossed the red line. The country has had enough of you. You deserve a red card, and the people will soon be showing you the way out.
Noel Muscat is the mayor of Swieqi.