They say a week in politics is a long time. Last week has probably been the longest week for Joseph Muscat since he entered the political arena. It was a week that saw his air of invincibility replaced with an air of dejectedness. The emperor lost his clothes. Faced with calls for resignation from all quarters, Joseph Muscat had no other option but to announce that he will be stepping down.

But even when stepping down, Joseph Muscat failed to do the right thing. He failed to recognise the real reasons that led to his fall. He failed to apologise for the gross errors of judgement that caused our country great harm. He failed to accept responsibility for having protected Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi for the last three years when instead they should have been dismissed immediately and charged with money laundering.

He failed to express regret at having created a sense of impunity which led to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. He failed to acknowledge that his very presence has tainted the whole investigation and due process of law.

He failed to condemn the culture of greed and corruption which his government has fed, nurtured and cultivated for its own political advantage. Rather than stepping aside immediately, he hangs on for another forty days of instability and harm to our country.

Like a criminal following the advice of his lawyer, he admitted nothing, he apologised for nothing. He spoke as though his end was planned even if this is clearly not the case. He talks now about betrayal when it is he that has betrayed his country. He wants to walk free away from the mess that is solely his doing and leave it up to us the people to pick up the pieces.

We are living through Malta’s darkest political hour. But we cannot and must not lose faith

As a country, we are, however, not yet in a position to start rebuilding. For each day that passes with Joseph Muscat still as Prime Minister, the damage to our country, to our credibility, to our institutions, to our economy gets only larger.

Just when we though it could not get any worse than last week, events this week are proving to be even more damaging. The letter written for posterity by Melvyn Theuma – the middleman involved in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia – clearly identifies Keith Schembri, then Chief of Staff of Joseph Muscat, as an accomplice in the assassination.

Reading the testimony of Melvyn Theuma in court, with the evident links between the Office of the Prime Minister, Keith Schembri, his acolytes and the world of criminality, and the evident free flow of sensitive security information from the Office of the Prime Minister alerting, aiding and abetting criminals, makes one feel sick.

So long as the police are led by politically appointed people close to the office of Joseph Muscat, there can be no proper investigation of Keith Schembri’s doings, let alone Muscat’s. And so long as Joseph Muscat remains in control, justice cannot be done. Keith Schembri is also implicated in alleged cases of obstruction of justice, blackmail and money laundering.

How many of these activities were planned and executed inside the Office of the Prime Minister? Have the police raided the office of Joseph Muscat or that of Keith Schembri, or interrogated the ‘Kenneth’ also forming part of the Office of the Prime Minister and identified by Melvyn Theuma in his damning testimony as part of the criminal network? Evidently not.

One should also keep in mind that Brian Tonna of Nexia BT who set up the weave of companies the sole purpose of which was to be the recipient of corrupt proceeds also had a desk in the Office of the Prime Minister. Anyone who contributed, through his actions or inactions, to this state of affairs needs to face the music. There were people who had the power to act but failed to do so. They sat back while criminals had their way.

Any investigation as part of a rebuilding process also needs to look at the Attorney General and the Police Commissioner, who both failed to act in a timely manner when crimes were reported. They should both step aside now and allow for their actions to be investigated. For why were multiple FIAU reports concluding that there was reasonable suspicion of money laundering activities by Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri when in office simply ignored?  

Government Ministers Edward Scicluna and Chris Cardona are facing a criminal investigation on the sale of state hospitals to Vitals. They should also step down until such investigations are concluded.

The deals entered into by former Minister Konrad Mizzi should all be investigated. Konrad Mizzi should not be in Parliament for he certainly is not an honourable member. Only after these steps are taken can we start talking of healing the nation. The new Labour Prime Minister, whoever he or she may be, must not stand in the way of justice. State institutions must regain their independence and autonomy from the government. The hospital deal needs to be reversed.

A mammoth task must be undertaken to rebuild Malta’s reputation abroad. The Moneyval clock is ticking and unless concrete action is taken in the coming weeks and months, Malta will be blacklisted. This will be another blow to the key economic sectors in Malta. The economy is grinding to a halt. 

This is the price of corruption. This is the price of greed. This is the tragic tale of men who pledged to serve the country but used the trust given to them to plunder the country instead.

We need to take a long and hard look at our system of governance and see what changes need to be made to ensure that what happened over the past years, will never happen again. For sure, the link between the business and the political world needs to be sanitised and made more transparent.

We are living through Malta’s darkest political hour. But we cannot and must not lose faith. We need to keep on pushing for changes. We need to keep insisting on justice. And we must hope that we can come together as a nation once again, to eradicate the political divide that has grown into a wide chasm.

Joseph Muscat promised a Malta Tagħna Lkoll. His legacy is a divided nation, castrated institutions and a country’s reputation in tatters.