Malta and the Maltese have become deeply familiar with corruption and criminality. There are now almost no moments of life where it is not on display, publicly and unapologetically.  Seldom does a day go by without another instalment in this ‘you couldn’t make it up’ horror movie.  The cast seems to include everyone – businesspeople, the professions, politicians, the administration, the police, the courts and sadly and most dispiriting of all, the public.

We are almost at the point where the words Malta and Maltese are synonymous with dodgy dealing, corruption and criminality of all types from the petty to the grand, including violence and even murder. When I discuss this with Maltese friends and colleagues, one of the sentiments often expressed is that it is ‘part of our culture’, it’s the ‘way we do things’. 

Recent surveys of public attitudes on the issue seem to concur – a significant cohort of the Maltese public sees these traits as ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’.  A majority of the public express themselves as satisfied with where things ‘are at’ locally.  A majority would also appear ready to re-elect this same Malta.

There are, of course, many who disagree and disagree vehemently. But they appear to be in a minority and are not confined to the currently dominant political tribe.

The ‘official’ story currently being woven is that the hallmark criminality of recent years and regimes is an aberration, a series of ‘mistakes’, lapses in oversight and administration, the machinations of a small group – a ‘kitchen cabinet’ or the greed and avarice of powerful individuals.  The argument is that we are slowly but surely moving away from this. 

The reality is demoralisingly different – the economic, political, administrative, environmental and civic life of Malta remains captured and abused by an elite with the active acquiescence of many, too many citizens. 

The current criminality that stalks Malta does not strike me as an aberration, though I sincerely hope to be proven wrong. It is the product of society and the history that has been created over time.  Its criminals-in-chief (from all sectors) are as much a product of Malta as pastizzi or ħobż biż-żejt, although they vary in size, taste and ambition.  They stalk all walks of life.

They are not a product of some fast disappearing past but have been busily updating themselves in style and focus; they are as much a part of the ‘new’ Malta as they were of any old Malta.  The criminals-in-chief now come in flash suits with ‘bigged up’ social media profiles and manipulated images surrounded by a coterie of carefully chosen ‘advisors’. 

They are now one of the biggest problems Malta faces; little substantive progress can be made on any pressing issue from public services and procurement to the environment and the law, to infrastructure and citizenship without first being subject to graft.

However, another more intractable problem presents itself – the apparent majority of Maltese who see little amiss in the situation or who defend it as part of ‘culture’ and who are prepared to turn a blind eye to it and even to vote for it.  Certainly, there are very many who benefit from it and admire it.

Malta’s brand of business and politics is not so much a political and economic model or ideology – it is a lethal brew of many ingredients.  The brew includes inherited and unthinking loyalties; an inflated sense of primitive nationalism and Maltese exceptionalism, ongoing mechanisms of petty rewards and grand promotions and a devious and manipulative political class with a grossly distorted sense of itself and its entitlements.  Its particular mix is particular to the Maltese ‘bubble’. 

It is also the product of a failed education system which consistently ignores critical social, political and citizenship studies.    

However, amidst all the criminality and misuse of power there is always another Malta - the neglected 40 per cent, perhaps.  It is represented by those who still champion civic life and community co-responsibility.  They are to be found in local church structures, local associations and ad-hoc groups; in many NGOs and voluntary groups around the environment, women’s and migrant’s rights and in the independent media.  At a most basic level, they are to be found among neighbours simply getting on with the business of being neighbours.

They are also visible in the structures and voices that continue to think and act independently and challenge criminality wherever it occurs often at considerable cost to themselves. Together,they represent another Malta in waiting.