Two summers ago, with the country lurching in the uncertainty of a pandemic, Prime Minister Robert Abela returned to his holidays in Sicily in the midst of a spike in COVID-19 cases."

Two years later, validated by a resounding electoral victory, Abela’s again nowhere to be seen. There have been tweets, recorded messages and a photo op with Russell Crowe; otherwise, he’s been more preoccupied with the seas around Capri than the backwaters of Castille.

The prime minister’s holidaying must have galvanised his predecessor, who has found time to keep himself busy in between hosting pre-announced police visits to his house in Burmarrad and boat trips where Italian law enforcement shows up, this time announced, to cuff a companion.

A fortnight ago, sensing southerly winds and the ensuing lull, Joseph Muscat sprang to the defence of Fredrick Azzopardi, the brutish ex-generalissimo of Infrastructure Malta and husband to a cousin of his. Muscat spoke of “consequences” and “responsibilities” as he claimed to “defend citizens from the authorities”, who are now suddenly crumbling to “pressure” from “the usual suspects”.

Muscatonomics, beside the exploitation of workers and complete deregulation (which substantially weakens the authorities), also require sustained economising with the truth. The former prime minister pinned Azzopardi’s charges in the Wied Qirda fracas on a phantom conspiracy between Arnold Cassola, Repubblika and the authorities, a convenient tactic for those who feel constantly cornered, an unease demonstrated by pre-emptive swipes of the tail.

There are plenty of fallacies in Muscat’s sudden defence of Azzopardi. Not only did he forget to mention the two are relatives but also that the Bonaparte of Burmarrad handpicked the engineer right after the Electrogas saga, giving him ample resources to kick-start an EU-funded road-building spree, where many old and new friends stood to make a quick buck. IM was created in 2017, months after stories about Keith Schembri’s alleged ill health started to make the rounds.

It’s interesting how Azzopardi’s name is rarely mentioned in relation to the Electrogas scandal. He’s either untouchable on account of what he knows about those dark deals or he had no role in them at all. What is sure, however, is that his tenure at IM, one made of alleged illegal pre-financing to contractors, irregular or non-existent expropriations and a spree of direct orders to select road-builders, should be the matter of a profound investigation of its own.

Less than two dozen ‘supporters’ felt they should take time off to show support for Frederick Azzopardi, right, a man accused of breaching the law.Less than two dozen ‘supporters’ felt they should take time off to show support for Frederick Azzopardi, right, a man accused of breaching the law.

Wied Qirda, in fact, was just a small taste of IM’s methods. Just like Dingli, Żabbar and countless other places, Azzopardi ordered his people to ignore residents and the authorities and proceeded to carry out roadworks without permits.

Many a farmer has been robbed of his land without compensation and residents around Malta, such as those of l-Għexierem in Rabat, are dealing with the brunt of their lethal cocktail of arrogance and incompetence.

Cassola followed up Moviment Graffitti’s actions in Żebbuġ with a criminal complaint against Azzopardi and did so out of his own initiative: he was doing what those “upstanding citizens” who poke fun at him should be doing, for his work ethic is second to none.

Muscat deviously sought to inflame temperatures among Labour diehards (enter his lapdog-in-exile, Manuel Cuschieri) by associating Cassola with Repubblika, an NGO which had absolutely no role in Wied Qirda.

It’s interesting how Fredrick Azzopardi’s name is rarely mentioned in relation to the Electrogas scandal- Wayne Flask

I may be sceptical of parts of Repubblika’s narrative and openly critical of a player or two. But this doesn’t take anything away from the NGO’s precious work in other spheres of civil society, which included, at one point, Muscat’s own, crucial resignation. In fact, activism has had to do the authorities’ job day in, day out.

His stunt maliciously put pressure on the serenity of both judiciary and civil society by threatening “consequences”, in what is really a drive to destabilise Abela’s grip. But the only thing he may have achieved is putting defenceless activists’ well-being in danger.

The prime minister must have breathed easier to see Cuschieri’s insurrection outside the courts tank like a dead zeppelin. Less than two dozen “supporters” felt they should take time off for a man accused of breaching the law, especially those who have had enough of impunity. More so, others found it hard to believe that a CEO who incensed so many Labour voters with his bullying should suddenly become Mother Teresa, especially when his testimonial is Cuschieri, the human embodiment of servility and hypocrisy.

Right after his Sunday morning missive, Muscat (accompanied by minders) made his way to a club in Ħamrun, to have his picture taken with Joseph Portelli. Muscat, who every so often flies with MDA president Michael Stivala, is also the chief lobbyist for the Gozitan developer’s “footballing interests” after his election as head of the Premier League clubs’ association.

This unwittingly exposed the hypocrisy of people like Jason Micallef and Cuschieri himself, who was fired from One after criticising the Planning Authority and Portelli’s “embarrassing” power over Labour. Now that his master is publicly squeezing flesh with Portelli, who received millions in tenders from Azzopardi, their defence of Azzopardi is even more conspicuous.

For all his patronising defence of CEOs, I wonder why Muscat did not issue fatwas and incite riots in defence of former Lands supremo James Piscopo, supposedly under investigation after allegations made by another Usual Suspect, actually, by Keyser Söze himself: Schembri.

But it’s looking increasingly like a watered-down, hyper-paranoid version of Fear and Loathing, a distracting sideshow played out between Abela and Muscat.

Prescription may shatter hopes of seeing Azzopardi served with justice and fairness, the exact opposite of how he has treated farmers and residents in these four long years.

For justice is not really about Cassola, Repubblika and – unless he’s holding something from us – not about Muscat either. It’s about those citizens who have suffered wrongs from bullies like Azzopardi and from the authorities that continue to betray us.

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