No country is immune to corruption. Corruption hides in the shadows of the corridors of power.
The abuse of public office for private gain erodes people’s trust in government and institutions, makes public policies less effective and fair, and drains taxpayers’ money away from education, public health, and infrastructure. It is crucial to break the vicious circle of corruption.
GRECO (Group of States Against Corruption) is a multinational watchdog that monitors and sets standards for countries that need to fight corruption. Prime Minister Robert Abela has yet to authorise the publication of the GRECO report detailing the latest findings on the government’s progress to implement its recommendations made in May 2022. GRECO concludes that Malta is still “not in sufficient compliance” with its recommendations.
Fighting corruption requires political will to create strong institutions that promote integrity and accountability throughout the public sector. Sadly, the integrity framework of the public sector remains dangerously inadequate because the political will to build robust and transparent institutions is weak.
When entrenched elites find themselves in the crosshairs of effective investigators, they fight back to protect their ill-gotten privileges. The results leave institutions weakened, and many voters disillusioned.
Corruption has severe repercussions for the public sector. When public bodies become victims of fraud, neglect, and mismanagement, this sets off chains of events such as lengthy investigations and efforts to try and recover lost funds. The public hospital management privatisation debacle and the social benefits scandal are just two examples of how corruption siphons precious resources and taxpayers’ funding that could otherwise have been diverted to more beneficial areas.
The government must find the political will to invest in high levels of transparency and independent external scrutiny. This starting point must be followed by a strategy to build a professional civil service whose sole loyalty is to the people, not the political party in power.
The heads of government agencies, ministers, and public enterprises must promote ethical behaviour by setting a clear tone at the top. For instance, the engagement of persons of trust must never undermine the essential requirement of transparent, merit-based hiring and pay recruitment policy.
GRECO emphasised the need to keep pace with new challenges as technology evolves, creating more threats and opportunities in the fight against corruption. The police must be empowered to build solid corruption cases by carrying out wiretaps. Evidence obtained by such means should become admissible in our courts.
The more time and effort the government puts into preventing corruption from happening in the first place, the less attractive the environment it creates for those seeking to act illegally or irresponsibly.
Rather than implement the GRECO recommendations to introduce unexplained wealth orders, laws criminalising obstruction of justice by public officials, and specific abuse-of-office laws, the government chose to weaken the hand of investigators by placing limits on freezing and attachment orders.
Even the perception of corruption is dangerous. It undermines people’s faith in government institutions, a phenomenon that is helping to drive a crisis in the democratic process. The government must heed the recommendations of GRECO and those made by the public inquiry into journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination with a steely determination.
Curbing corruption is a challenge that requires persevering on many fronts. Breaking the vicious circle of corruption starts with political will and continuously strengthening institutions to promote integrity and accountability.