When Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed, a question was posed: did the government do enough to protect her life? This week, an ominous picture is being painted right before our eyes, showing that someone at the Office of the Prime Minister is implicated in ordering the assassination of a citizen.
These revelations are driving Malta to the edge, prompting the overdue resignations of officials who are being implicated in crime. Each headline seems to be a step closer to achieving closure in a long, bleak ordeal that has altered thousands of lives and taken at least one.
But with each headline, Malta’s already blood-stained name is blackened and befouled. There is one man responsible for it, whose presence in public office aggravates an already grievous situation by the second.
Joseph Muscat, resign now.
When the Panama Papers broke, his defence of Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi meant that his political fate was tied inextricably to that of his friends. For each day he retained them, he became more and more liable for their misdeeds. For each day he defended them in front of the national and international press, he continued to batter Malta’s name.
For each story that broke, he personally fuelled the proverbial bomb that this week has gone off and sent shockwaves the likes of which Malta has never seen. The fallout has engrossed the nation and rocked the political establishment to its core.
Until recently, it seemed like Muscat’s administration was immune from pressure, an indivisible unit that could literally get away with murder. They protected crooks from prosecution and scrutiny, gave the independent media the cold shoulder, sunk lower and lower in terms of transparency and accountability and yet seemed to come out unscathed from each scandal.
Not anymore. With incriminating hard evidence driving raids and interrogations, the scoundrels are panicking. The lies of Mephistopheles’ are failing to stick effectively; finally, the truth is coming out momentously and the meticulous narratives which were crafted over the past two years are ingloriously crashing down.
But this is no decisive victory. While the Prime Minister’s administration has ground to an abrupt halt, he still remains Malta’s most powerful individual. Despite his glaring moral and political ineptitude, he is still in a position of influence over Malta’s dysfunctional institutions.
Joseph Muscat carries the sole responsibility for the havoc that is being wreaked upon our nation
As his closest allies face police interrogation and even arrest, his forceful interference in the investigations is disconcerting and undermines every principle of independence that our institutions should exhibit beyond doubt.
New evidence is coming to light that Schembri assisted Yorgen Fenech as he attempted to flee justice. If true, it means that the Office of the Prime Minister has actively abetted the murder of a Maltese citizen and attempted to obstruct justice – a damning indictment of the depths to which our highest office has sunk.
The night before Schembri was interrogated by the police, Muscat welcomed him into his home.
This is not just unbecoming; it is unacceptable in a serious democracy. Standards of independence and principles of democracy are being wrecked indiscriminately so long as Muscat retains office.
This is why Malta is taking to the streets. People are not foolish, and they can see before their eyes the damage that Muscat has caused.
He has gone back on his word innumerable times since he began defending Schembri, and now he carries the sole responsibility for the havoc that is being wreaked upon our nation.
Muscat is a man that has demonstrated his willingness to endorse corruption and enable dictators to launder their ill-gotten gains. He has feasted and celebrated with alleged money launderers and murderers.
This is the same man who can unilaterally pardon criminals of their actions. If his closest friends are soon-to-be convicts, what is there to stop him from issuing a pardon? If people in the OPM abetted a murderer, what more would they be capable of?
The nation is being suspended by a fragile chord over a very dangerous abyss. Already it has been heaved into a crisis so treacherous that everything is at risk and nothing can be taken for granted. Muscat’s resignation will not be an act of goodwill to appease the population or to limit the ruination of the public sphere.
The damage has been done – that is the point. His resignation was necessary three years ago. Now, it is exigent to the political well-being of a nation that has lost all trust in the institutions it depends on. No, Dr Muscat, the institutions are not functioning. They are in tatters, as is the rule of law. It is not the state of a nation fit to call itself European.
His resignation is a requisite to the reparations of a divided nation in pandemonium. As revelations pour out, Malta will continue to demand truth and justice. Muscat often claims to be a sailor of rough seas. Now that he is caught between Scylla and Charybdis, he has the option of upholding the national interest or clinging to power at the expense of this country’s constitutional soundness. The nation’s message is clear: resign.
David Casa is a Nationalist MEP.