The Prime Minister has stated he has full confidence in the three members of the inquiry board that he appointed to conduct an independent inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
That assertion misses the point that is most vital to all of us who live and work here in Malta.
We live or die by virtue of our credibility as an EU state that has rules which safeguard the rights of the tourists who come here, the shareholders who establish companies, those who set gaming companies up and everybody else who needs to believe that we can guarantee their rights; that this is not a cowboy state and that we can be trusted.
Our reputation in this regard has been sorely battered. We are down to our last legs. We desperately needed the appointment of an independent inquiry board to address one of the darkest clouds hanging over our collective heads.
All of us, regardless of political belief, want to hear a trustworthy source tell us that there are parts of our government that are neither corrupt nor murderous; that there is hope yet, that wrongdoers will be brought to justice and that those who are unblemished will no longer have a cloud over their heads.
The PM could have assigned the task of empanelling the inquiry board to a third party and bound himself to act on its advice
To do so, the inquiry board must try to determine whether it is true – as the murder victim wrote – that senior government officials received bribes and laundered the money so received via third party ‘friends’ like – Daphne alleged – Adrian Hillman.
Among these members of the inquiry board there is Hillman’s lawyer. His name is not relevant to the point I am making.
The individual concerned is a gentleman and a professional.
I do not doubt his personal integrity but think he should not have accepted a place on the inquiry board, citing potential conflict or appearance of partiality. Both are important considerations.
I think Hillman’s lawyer should now resign his place on the inquiry board. The reason why is very simple and logical, I believe: Daphne accused Hillman of laundering money for Keith Schembri, the Prime Minister’s personal assistant.
One of the plausible motives for killing Daphne was her coverage of the Panama Papers story, which contained allegations of money laundering at the highest levels of the Maltese government.
If it is to enjoy the public’s confidence, and not simply the Prime Minister’s confidence, the inquiry board will need to follow every possible lead it can.
How can we believe that the lawyer defending Hillman, and who has a professional duty of care towards him, will allow the board of inquiry to probe allegations of money laundering by Schembri, when the findings might incriminate his client?
So, the fact that the Prime Minister has full confidence in the members he appointed to this inquiry board does not mean everybody else does too.
Given the circumstances, his full confidence is only a cause for concern. To be an independent inquiry, the members cannot be nominated by an individual or office that may need to be scrutinised by the inquiry itself.
The Prime Minister could have assigned the task of empanelling the inquiry board to a third party and bound himself to act on his/its advice. Had he wanted to show the world his mettle, and absolute confidence that his government is untainted in this matter, he could have asked for assistance from an organ of one of the principal human rights institutions like Amnesty International, the Council of Europe or the European Union. Again, he would have bound himself to accept their recommendations.
In the light of the global impact her assassination had, I am convinced that one (or all) of these institutions would have accepted to provide advice and assistance.
To do so would have been politically astute because it would have let Joseph Muscat occupy the moral high ground.
Since nobody doubts Muscat’s astuteness, we must doubt the reasons for his full confidence.
Georg Sapiano is a lawyer and former journalist.