The crisis engulfing our country as a result of the investigations into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia is not just a domestic issue but presents a significant challenge for the European Union.
Respect for the rule of law is a fundamental characteristic of the EU. When one member state undermines it, it reflects on the union as a whole. Unless the rule of law is applied equally throughout all member states, the EU cannot call itself a union of common values.
Many people in Malta voted in favour of joining the EU in 2003 precisely because they believed it would guarantee respect for the rule of law. They have, unfortunately, been proved wrong. The European Commission and the European Council (but not the European Parliament) have been shamefully silent over the last few years as Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his government presided over rampant corruption and the weakening of the country’s supposedly independent institutions.
The rule of law has long been undermined by this Labour government, not least when no action was taken against then OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and minister Konrad Mizzi after it emerged that they had set up secret companies in Panama.
It got much worse, however. It was revealed that both these individuals were to receive $5,000 a day channelled into their Panama companies by a Dubai-based company called 17 Black.
This company was owned by Yorgen Fenech, a shareholder in the Electrogas consortium which was awarded the contract for the controversial new power station – he has now been charged over the murder.
And, even worse… testimony in court in cases connected to the murder has revealed links to Schembri involving government jobs, efforts to help prime suspect Fenech escape from Malta and attempts to frame another minister over the murder. Fenech even implicates Schembri in the murder itself.
Because of his association with Schembri, and to ensure that there is no political interference in the Caruana Galizia investigation, Joseph Muscat should have stepped down immediately. He has just been told as much by a European Parliament delegation that was in Malta on an urgent fact-finding mission related to the murder and the rule of law.
The institutions of the EU, including the Parliament and the Commission, must now send a clear signal to him that his adamant refusal to leave office is not acceptable by European norms and values. The new European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, seems to have adopted a tougher approach towards Malta than her predecessor Jean Claude Juncker, and on Wednesday expressed concern about the situation.
It is also true that the EU lacks a proper mechanism to enforce the rule of law among its member states.
This is evident by its weakness in confronting the disgraceful decisions taken by the governments of countries like Poland and Hungary.
The Commission must make the formulation of a new rule-of-law enforcement procedure one of its main priorities.
It would, however, be tragic if the EU sets the ball rolling to invoke Article 7, which would give it the power to suspend the country’s voting rights.
Muscat knows what he has to do to make sure this does not happen.
The Maltese people who fought to earn the country a place in the EU do not deserve it.