The assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia exposed the institutional corruption that afforded blanket impunity for the crimes and corruption of politicians, including those who facilitated her assassination by maintaining this same culture of impunity.
The hard-fought public inquiry, mandated by the European Convention on Human Rights, made precisely this finding. As a remedy, it called for an improvement of the institutional checks that allowed officials to get away with corruption, abuse of power and obstruction of justice.
Six years have passed since Daphne was murdered and more than two years have passed since the board of inquiry made its findings public. International institutions, including the European Union and the Council of Europe, have been exercising closer scrutiny on the Maltese government. They have patiently granted it the benefit of the doubt time and time again in answer to its pledges of reform.
That reform has not come. Nor has a single conviction come for the plethora of corruption allegations that the police have failed in 100 per cent of cases to effectively prosecute.
Not only has nothing been learnt since Daphne’s assassination but politicians are still given free rein to perform criminal acts. This blanket impunity afforded to those close to the highest echelons of the Maltese political establishment is only possible because of the wholesale State takeover by the Labour Party.
Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the scandals exposed by journalists that reveal a systemic inability to prevent corruption. The opposite is true: one by one, captured institutions cover up and enable abuse of power and trading in influence with the sole aim of consolidating the political influence of the ruling party through criminal means.
Evidence exposed over the last weeks shows widespread corrupt voter manipulation across government entities for the purpose of manipulating elections.
This was done through enticing disgruntled voters into accepting a disability benefit that they were not entitled to, achieving it by means of a racket coordinated by government officials aligned with the Labour Party, using forged medical and government documents that were later accepted by another government board.
The only people who have been prosecuted are those who were duped into fraudulently applying for the benefit in exchange for their vote. None of the masterminds, some of whom even received kickbacks from those convicted, have been prosecuted, despite the police having had evidence and testimony for the past two years.
Nor has a single conviction come for the plethora of corruption allegations that the police have failed in 100 per cent of cases to effectively prosecute- David Casa
Despite admitting that he knew about the racket before the general election, the prime minister allowed it to continue in the run-up of the election and only promised an inquiry after journalists exposed the criminal enterprise last month.
No sooner had this scandal been exposed that another racket was exposed, with government officials ordering driving licences be dished out to Labour supporters upon request based solely on the political allegiance of candidate drivers, irrespective of evidence that they had repeatedly failed theory and practical driving examinations.
Once again, despite the police having clear evidence of trading in influence, not a single prosecution has been initiated against Labour Party politicians implicated.
Both schemes show a pattern of hijacked national institutions that are geared to achieving partisan ends at the expense of the taxpayer and the safety of citizens. This is incompatible with the proper functioning of a democracy.
What is worse is that, over the weekend, Robert Abela called on those responsible for the driving tests scandal to continue working as they have done before. He showered praise on those involved, who continue to enjoy impunity for their alleged crimes.
While those who benefitted from payments for disabilities they did not have and the frontline operators of the corrupt licensing scheme are being criminally prosecuted, those who masterminded and ordered the corrupt practices are not only being shielded from prosecution but are being encouraged to continue.
This has nothing to do with the way the political system works. By destroying the boundaries between party and State, the government has scuppered a functioning public sector which now fosters reliance on corruption and discriminates the delivery of government services based on whether you’re Labour enough.
Nor is this about skipping queues. It is about State takeover, endangering the public for the short-term goals of the criminal cabal that has taken control of the State. Their aim is clear, to buy or bully citizens into submission, to continue swindling and lining their pockets off the backs of the Maltese.
The Labour media machine has gone into overdrive to brand me a traitor. But the Labour Party in government is not Malta. My duty is not to Abela but to the citizens who are tired of having brazen corruption foisted upon them on a daily basis.
David Casa is a Nationalist MEP.