There seems to be no end to the narrative of abuse of taxpayers’ money by politicians and their business cronies under a Labour administration. The shocking revelations being made in court linked to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia have not revealed the full extent to which the government of Joseph Muscat was mired in filth.
Joint investigations by Times of Malta and Reuters have opened yet another can of worms in the form of corrupt practices. These latest revelations indicate how, in the last few years, the abusive relationship between senior politicians and rogue business people robbed Maltese households of their hard-earned tax money.
Enemalta’s purchase of Cifidex shares in a wind farm in Montenegro for €10.3 million in 2015 earned murder suspect Yorgen Fenech a “profit” of €4.6 million. Fenech financed the €3 million deal through which Cifidex bought the shares, eventually sold to Enemalta, from the original owners Fersa Renvoables. These transactions were spread over just a few months. Fenech was repaid in full for his loan plus “profits” transferred to his Dubai-registered company 17 Black.
The protagonists in this shameful deal have so far given no credible confirmation that it was legitimate and that it promoted Maltese taxpayers’ interest. Enemalta said it is still gathering information before it reacts to the story. Fenech, unsurprisingly, did not respond; he faces more severe issues.
Muscat, who accompanied the then energy minister Konrad Mizzi to Montenegro for the inauguration of the completed wind farm in November 2019, states he had no knowledge of Fenech’s or 17 Black’s connection to the project. Mizzi would have us believe that it benefitted the Maltese people.
One has to be very naïve to believe that the former prime minister, who endorsed this Enemalta project, did not vet the due diligence that should have been conducted before taxpayers’ money was put at risk. Muscat absolves his then chief of staff, Keith Schembri, by claiming he was not involved in the negotiations.
It is not acceptable that such an abuse of trust is written off as merely another case of bad business judgment by well-meaning politicians.
Prime Minister Robert Abela has expressed his disgust at this deal and urged law enforcement authorities to investigate and press charges. He insisted investigations should not drag on forever as they usually do when certain prominent politicians are involved.
Political statements on how resources are being dedicated to fighting corruption are meaningless if the prime minister does not take tough decisions
But the prime minister must do more to challenge the growing perception that politicians who abuse their power benefit from impunity. Malta’s reputation continues to be at risk unless more drastic political decisions are taken to restore trust in the rule of law. As a minimum, Abela should insist that Muscat and Mizzi be suspended from the PL parliamentary group until the investigations are concluded. Muscat has no place as a government consultant.
External financial forensic experts should be roped in to address the complexities often associated with international rogue deals. The fact that a Eurobarometer survey showed 89 per cent of Maltese believe corruption is widespread cannot be written off as mere perception. The IMF, Moneyval and other international organisations have their eyes on Malta to see how committed the government is to tackle money laundering and corruption.
Political statements on how resources are being dedicated to fighting corruption are meaningless if the prime minister does not take tough decisions.
He must prove there are no sacred political cows that deserve protection from the outrage of ordinary people who rightly demand accountability for the squandering of their money.