One of my favourite stories when trying to explain Malta’s ambiguous relationship with the law involves a series of signs that had a brief lifespan at the new marina in Mġarr in Gozo. 

Following a period of summer mayhem where boat trailers were ‘parked’ willy-nilly blocking each other, cars, footpaths and roads,  a series of official signs appeared stating that trailer-parking was prohibited. The police made a brief appearance and fines were issued for offenders.

For those affected, the solution was disarmingly simple – just tear down the signs. Problem solved. But, in order to send a deeper message, the signs were smashed in a way that left clearly visible remains.  The implication was clear – we don’t care about your rules and what’s more, we want you to know that.

This is a silly, light-hearted example of much of Maltese society’s attitude to the law. Everyone I speak with has their own example of ‘low level’ disregard for the law or for the needs of others in society. Illegal misuse of footpaths or public land for private gain, illegal electricity connections, dumping of waste, illegally sited caravans etc. The list of endless.

At another level entirely, in recent times we have witnessed the very sad and dispiriting reports of the illegality of strands of Malta’s police force, best exemplified by the overtime scandal which began in the traffic corps.

Moving across society, there are a litany of stories of people being given jobs (many times phantom jobs) or paid appointments, planning permissions or derogations or lucrative direct order contracts simply because of ‘connections’.  So much so that many argue this is ‘normal’; it has become a defining part of the folklore of Maltese ‘culture’.

We know in some fine detail the events, projects and personalities of the men and women who have literally stolen Malta. Their images and symbols regale us daily.

The attention to the micro-detail of this political management of society is impressive in its scope and level of manipulation.  Ensuring that as many friends as possible or necessary have skin in the game has been a feature of both blue and red politics for many decades.  Since 2013 it has surged to unprecedented heights in all levels in society and across all sectors and professions. 

And it has clearly done this at great cost to Maltese democracy, over which it rides roughshod.

The scale and depth of criminality (the alternate term ‘corruption’ makes it sound like a technical problem) has been documented at length by journalists, academics, researchers and commentators. This criminality reaches from the micro to the fully macro and even beyond.  We know a lot about the hospitals ‘deal’, the construction ‘deals’, the financial ‘deals’, the ‘contract’ deals, the energy ‘deals’ and the land and resource ‘deals’. 

We know in some fine detail the events, projects and personalities of the men and women who have literally stolen Malta. Their images and symbols regale us daily.  It is no longer simply a limited list of ‘bigged’ up individuals who project themselves as Malta’s leaders in politics, business and even in culture.  It is no longer about the few bad apples.  The list includes many ‘lesser’ individuals and groups who have grasped their own piece of skin in the game. 

It is systemic, as the structures of the Maltese state and society become infused with criminality.  Many, it would appear, are happy to steal from their neighbours, from their communities and from the nation.

The revelations and scandals remain a constant, despite minor regime changes.  They are accompanied by never-ending investigations, a barrage of magisterial enquiries measured in multiples of years and solemn declarations and promises all of which dissipate into the sand.

Here for me, lies one of Malta’s greatest democratic challenges. The country has a vast array of laws, structures, procedures and rules which, in theory, should prevent the stealing of Malta. But the culture of routine criminality all too often laughs in the face of such laws. Literally, the heritage of so many future Maltese generations is being stolen before their eyes.    

This will continue until a new political literacy is born – one that insists ‘enough is enough, this stops now’. But it appears there is a significant cohort of Maltese who have enough skin in the game to ensure it continues.

Meanwhile, Malta is stolen in ever0growing quantities by its ‘elite’, often cheered on from the sidelines. 

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