Daphne Caruana Galizia will soon have been dead for a full three years. First the government resisted holding a public inquiry into the circumstances of her murder. Now that the inquiry is well under way, it wishes to end it as soon as possible.
The legal case into the assassination is entangled in the byzantine labyrinths of Maltese court proceedings, and hard to follow. But the public inquiry has been yielding a rich harvest. In the latest developments, a growing line of cabinet ministers have been distancing themselves from the controversial decisions of former prime minister Joseph Muscat.
Their lack of effective action at the time seriously undermines public trust. Last week, anti-corruption demonstrators on the steps of Castille held up placards depicting government ministers as the three monkeys who see, hear and speak no evil.
Daphne was a tough critic of Muscat and she was often right. Since his departure from office, the political legacy of his administration is taking shape. The floodgates to scandals were opened from the moment he took over power. The waves began with the Café Premier deal and grew so big, including massive deals like Electrogas and Vitals, that nobody could keep track.
Yet Muscat had a great knack of deflecting criticism, shaking it off, sweeping it under the carpet or throwing it back at his adversaries. An expert hand at flicking any ball back with his racket.
Besides potential corruption, a dismal aspect of his political legacy is the undermining of standards in public life. Many fingers can be pointed at any administration of the past. But after 2013 the erosion of standards became endemic in government, even shedding the need to justify it.
As is clear from the fallout of his handling of the Panama Papers, Muscat’s inability to retain standards in public life played a major part in his downfall.
While Muscat may still be calling some shots from behind the scenes, in public he is increasingly isolated. His reputation is turning toxic. The scandals are still there but their defence posts are weakening and falling. The army is dispersing, with weapons and supplies running dry.
On the other hand, Daphne’s posthumous reputation soars upwards. Her achievements continue to be nominated for prizes worldwide. It is her strengths as a journalist that have defined her legacy."
Her achievements continue to be nominated for prizes worldwide. It is her strengths as a journalist that have defined her legacy.
Her investigative work is still relevant. It features in the due diligence report on the two candidates for leader of the Nationalist Party, published last week. Besides looking into the business interests and financial affairs of Adrian Delia and Bernard Grech, an analysis of adverse media reports, including some by Daphne, plays a significant role in the scrutiny.
This is explained in a footnote, in which the authors stress the essential role played by the media in safeguarding the rule of law and democracy in Malta. The media holds persons in public office to account, uncovers wrongdoing, and keeps the public informed of events as they occur.
Women in Maltese politics still fall under the famous ‘glass ceiling’- Petra Caruana Dingli
They add: “Journalists in Malta carry out this function in challenging and difficult circumstances as the murder of Ms Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017 has clearly shown”.
It is sad to think that while in the last PN leadership election Daphne’s voice occupied such an influential space, yet this time round only three years later, she appears in a footnote recording her cruel death.
Women and power
Daphne’s pen wielded power. She was not a politician, but her adversaries treated her as such, and targeted her personally with the same level of open attacks.
Women in positions of power are the subject of a book Women and Leadership published earlier this summer. The authors are Julia Gillard, former Australian prime minister, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
One might think that women like Gillard who have reached such high positions in public and political life would have overcome and shelved gender biases by now, but in reality they understand the situation best. Gillard’s famous ‘misogyny speech’ of 2012, directed at then Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott, has been named as an unforgettable moment of Australian TV history.
The book focusses on women as political leaders. In the intense, pressured and public political environment, women leaders are exposed to relentless harsh judgement by voters, as well as by the media. A gender bias exists. The authors are also enthusiastic about the power of policies and politics to bring about change.
The ongoing PN leadership election almost yielded a female candidate, Therese Comodini Cachia. Another strong contender was Roberta Metsola. But both stepped aside.
The fact that their names were in the shortlist is already a step forward, but the real difference will come when a woman actually sits in the political driving seat.
So far women in Maltese politics still fall under the famous ‘glass ceiling’, where they can rise pretty high, perhaps even to second or third position, but they have not yet quite smashed through that invisible barrier at the executive top.
Another structural barrier for women is the so-called ‘glass cliff’, whereby women are more frequently nominated to leadership positions in times of crisis.
In this scenario they are offered difficult and high-risk positions while male counterparts walk away. In other words, they are set up to fail. Was Comodini Cachia at the edge of a proverbial ‘glass cliff’ in her initial nomination?
The leadership challenge has now been taken up by a man, Grech. Perhaps it will be a woman next time. In any case, the departure of Delia cannot come soon enough.