“The most senior leadership of the European Parliament was quick to reach certain conclusions. My principle remains consistent in this type of case: we must allow institutions to do their job. Since I respect institutions, I will not do that.
“It can be that the European Parliament’s leadership came out with those conclusions because they have information which is not in the public domain. Or it can be because the leadership was deviating attention away from itself because, as the EU ombudsman commented some time ago, there was the opportunity to create a safeguarding mechanism to avoid this sort of thing. Repeatedly, however, the EP did not implement those safeguards intended to minimise the chance of these cases happening.
“It could be that the EP was focused on censoring and criticising EU member states because of actions, while it did not implement safeguards.
“While one condemns any form of wrongdoing, we have important relations with the country that is allegedly connected. If something wrong happened, we would condemn it but then one must see that these important relations, concerning the supply of energy, are not dampened by this case.”
That’s my translation of the transcript (edited for clarity) of a brief interview Prime Minister Robert Abela gave TVM when asked to comment on the scandal of bribes allegedly paid by Qatar to one of the vice presidents of the European Parliament and EP staffers to purchase their favourable opinions.
That Abela is a conceited, self-centred brat, who is unforgivably unaware of anything outside his immediate gratification, was a given well before these remarks. But his comments seem intended to prove it for anyone left with anything like doubt.
Briefly, Qatar is suspected of having paid enormous cash gifts to officials and politicians working at the European Parliament so that they speak well of that country, push against any reservations about its human rights conduct and open Europe’s doors to uninhibited trade and access for Qatar.
Also, briefly, houses and offices belonging to these officials and politicians were raided by the Belgian police who reportedly found eye-watering large sums of money in cash stacked in the home of Greek Socialist MEP Eva Kaili. Immediately the news emerged, European Parliament president Roberta Metsola stripped Kaili of her duties. Then a vote was taken in the chamber to fire her from the vice-presidency. Six hundred and twenty-five MEPs voted to fire her. One voted against. Kaili denies any wrongdoing.
Metsola gave public remarks during these heady days, denouncing corruption and undertaking cooperation with the authorities to punish wrongdoers, in other words, the Europeans receiving the bribes.
She also warned the bribers, the ones from outside Europe who undermine our interests by recruiting traitors in our ranks to act in their interests against ours, that Europe is watching them and we will not allow our elected representatives and our appointed officials to take decisions ostensibly on our behalf but, in fact, against our interests. And she rode the wave of public anger over the scandal to push her agenda for improved transparency rules for the parliament she leads.
What did Abela have to say about all this?
He wouldn’t criticise the people caught with piles of cash they cannot explain because they haven’t been convicted yet.
He wouldn’t criticise Qatar (which he didn’t have the courage to name) because even if it turns out they did “wrong” he would limit condemnation to ensure it doesn’t dampen the commercial arrangements we have with that country. That’s Abela’s understanding of domestic interest. If he catches a cook spitting in his soup, he’ll be careful with his complaints to make sure the cook makes him more soup.
There’s only one set of people who are apparently deserving of Abela’s criticism, “the highest leadership of the EP”, for which read Metsola because, you know, she’s Nazzjonalista, jaqq.
Immediately the news emerged Robert Metsola stripped Eva Kaili of her duties- Manuel Delia
A senior socialist MEP allegedly takes massive bribes from Qatar and Abela thinks it’s OK for him to say it’s Metsola’s fault.
Metsola needs no defending. The thundering strength of her articulately expressed convictions went a long way towards mitigating the inevitable crisis of institutional confidence that this rotten scandal provoked.
Even so, the hypocrisy of Abela needs remarking. Leave aside for the moment that nobody has any clue what he’s talking about and it seems the ‘missing safeguards’ are a figment of his febrile imagination.
To say it is ironic that Abela criticises anyone else for taking time to implement the advice of ombudsmen, and of independent institutions to avoid corruption, is to suggest that we can afford to chuckle at the thought.
He ignored the Venice Commission, except to the limited extent forced on his government by a Repubblika lawsuit at the European Court of Justice.
He ignored the OECD and the European Commission’s repeated demand that he withdraws the dangerous and unlawful passport-selling scheme.
He ignored the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life’s recommended guidelines to avoid conflicts of interest.
He ignored GRECO on restricting recruitment of ‘persons of trust’.
He ignored the Whistleblowing International Network on proper whistleblower-protection legislation.
He ignored 16 reports by the Ombudsman on cases of government misconduct and he ignored Ombudsman reports complaining about how the government ignores the Ombudsman’s reports.
Abela is indeed consistent. His ‘principles’ allegedly prevent him from denouncing the Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi triumvirate who continue to enjoy his protection and his guarantee of their impunity.
You see, no honest politician can be blamed for the corruption of someone else. There will be corruption for as long as people with money dazzle people without. The test of the honest comes when they find out about their colleagues’ crimes.
Of all the prime ministers of all the world’s rotten democracies afflicted with serial corruption by its politicians, Abela had to be the one to wag his finger at the European Parliament president who stood and showed the entire continent what one must do when they find out it is in their power to do something to fight corruption.