This time last year Malta was going through political turmoil that led to the resignation of prime minister Joseph Muscat, his right-hand man, Keith Schembri, and cabinet minister Konrad Mizzi, among others.
In a country where the culture of resignation is all but inexistent, that raised hopes that, finally, those wielding any power would be shaken into their senses, clean the Augean stables and take the necessary action to right wrongs, especially where good governance and the rule of law are concerned.
Expectations were raised even higher when Muscat’s successor, Robert Abela, pledged he would strengthen the rule of law and insisted the country would emerge stronger.
“We will continue to work with continuity and stability. We will keep the formula that has given us electoral victories and economic growth while changing what needs to be changed,” he was also quoted as saying just a day before becoming prime minister.
To be fair with him, he merely had two full months during which to focus his undivided attention to deliver on what he had promised before COVID-19 hit, disrupting everybody’s plans, programmes and life itself.
Looking back at the past 12 months of his stewardship, one would be justified to conclude that, although efforts were made to improve the wrapping, the content remains very much unchanged.
In fact, though Abela stuck to his word on continuity, he has so far failed to inject the substance that is essential to restore the international reputation the jurisdiction rightly deserves.
Laws, even of a constitutional nature, have been amended, new rules implemented and regulation tightened.
The system of appointing people occupying high and sensitive offices, such as members of the judiciary, the commissioner of police, the attorney general and the state advocate has been changed too.
Over the past few months, we have also witnessed arraignments connected to alleged money laundering and certain individuals who appeared to be untouchable under Muscat were interrogated by the police, stopping at that.
Abela and his government keep declaring that the institutions are working and that international agencies eyeing Malta are satisfied with what has been going on.
They also sing from the same hymn book when reacting to comments made by the Auditor General, the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life and the Ombudsman.
Serious and meaningful consultation with civil society remains elusive
A thorough and honest analysis of what both local and foreign institutions and agencies say about the prevailing situation on this island, and that entails reading between the lines, shows a lot still leaves to be desired.
Abela has been engaged in window dressing, primarily aimed at appeasing and trying to be seen to be meeting the recommendations made by agencies like the Venice Commission, Moneyval, GRECO, the European Commission and the Council of Europe.
Serious and meaningful consultation with civil society remains elusive and we are yet to see proceedings in court against the big fish, as has been done against small fry. Some notorious characters appear to continue operating with impunity.
As we enter a new year – with the world still plagued by the devastation wrought by the dreaded coronavirus – Abela must resolve to move from his word of a year ago to more meaningful action and prove he truly means business.
Five years ago, Times of Malta had warned editorially that good governance makes specific and clear demands on those running a country. A prime minister ignores that at his own peril.
It would be catastophic were Abela to suffer the same fate as his predecessor.