Malta's small business lobby has said it is perplexed and shocked at the government's dismissal of a driving licences racket.
Small business owners “don’t know why the government is claiming there is nothing wrong” with its handling of the racket, Abigail Mamo, CEO of the Chamber of SMEs, told Times of Malta, adding it was unfortunate it had taken a newspaper to expose the scheme.
“When the government calls this ‘customer care’, we question this greatly. While we accept there is an element of customer care that requires urgency, there need to be measures in place that improve the system for everyone and not create an opportunity for favours instead. That’s not customer care – it’s clientelism,” she said.
Times of Malta revealed last week that Transport Malta's director of licencing, Clint Mansueto, was bombarded with requests to 'help' specific candidates sitting for a driving test.
Requests came from all across government, including minister Ian Borg. But the prime minister downplayed the revelations, saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing and that Borg and others who pressured Mansueto were just "doing their job" as part of Malta's political system.
That reaction prompted a horrified response from the Malta Employers Association, which accused Robert Abela of extending an "invitation to anarchy".
Other social partners were similarly dismayed.
Chamber of SMEs: This sends out the wrong message
Mamo from the Chamber of SMEs described the racket as a “corrupt open secret”, and said there was heightened disgruntlement among SMEs about the government's response.
“This sends completely the wrong message. If the message from the top is that things can operate in this way, it encourages bad practice at the bottom,” she said, adding it also impacted “efforts to upscale Maltese businesses”.
The chamber, she clarified, was not against the concept of customer care but if “something be fixed for one person, it should be fixed for all”.
Clientelism should be held at bay- Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry spokesperson
“We want everyone to be given the same opportunity: for every person who skips the line, someone is left behind and that is not fair.”
Malta Chamber: Civil service should be free of politics
Echoing Mamo, a spokesperson for the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry said “clientelism should be held at bay”.
The chamber, she said, would “continue to push for good governance, ethical behaviour and transparency” and expected the government to adopt a “zero tolerance policy for any kind of abuse that is facilitated by those entrusted with political or administrative responsibility”.
The spokesperson stressed the importance of an independent civil service.
“The Malta Chamber insists that the civil service should be allowed to function properly and efficiently without any unnecessary political interference and partisan decisions.”
The chamber, she added, had made several recommendations in its pre-budget document to this effect. Among others, it was suggesting a clear separation of ministerial and civil service responsibilities and the capping of the number of people holding a position of trust.
UĦM: Corruption is a sickness
UĦM secretary general Josef Vella said the country had some “soul-searching” to do.
“We have reached a very low point in this country when people request everything from politicians under the pretence of customer care,” he said.
Calling the practice “a vicious cycle”, Vella said the racket contained worrying moral and legal aspects.
“It makes our work as a social partner more difficult,” Vella said and, likening corruption to sickness, he questioned whether the country could move forward without addressing the issue.
“Corruption is an addiction: It’s very easy to speak about addiction but much more difficult to cure it. How can we have a new economic vision for the country when we have this illness,” he asked.
“It’s useless talking of new economic visions when we are tied to old practices,” Vella said, questioning whether there was significant political will to change the country’s political landscape.
Corruption is an addiction: It’s very easy to speak about addiction but much more difficult to cure it- UĦM secretary general Josef Vella
Should the situation change, it is unclear whether politicians would know how to “play the game”, he added.
Vella, however, stressed that the people who requested favours from political parties were partly responsible and part of the problem.
“It’s not good enough to point fingers at politicians but then request favours from them... politicians are giving us what we want,” he said.
GWU: Politicians are there to help
A spokesperson for the General Workers’ Union meanwhile told Times of Malta that while the union was “against any form of corruption, one must not forget that politicians are there to help the citizens of Malta and Gozo, unless such help is outside the parameters of what the law permits”.
“Once such assistance breaches the law, then we do have competent institutions that intervene and take the necessary actions,” the spokesperson added.