Titans and hornets at the WSC

Signs that the Gonzi administration is unravelling are becoming more distinct. Of all people, Minister Austin Gatt has provided the latest evidence. The way he handled the board of directors of the Water Services Corporation led its chairman to ponder deeply and then decide to tender his resignation. That chairman is no simple apparatchik, technocrat or faceless person. Michael Falzon is as long in the Nationalist teeth as Dr Gatt. He is a former minister.

He is no slouch in political administration. At a minimum he boasts as much experience in it as the sitting minister. He also remains active in the Nationalist Party ranks and his many contributions in the non-party media are as incisive as can be when it comes to criticising the Labour side.

There have been indications that the former minister did not inhabit Dr Gatt's portfolio 100 per cent at ease, particularly given the way some members of the minister's secretariat shone their reflected glory at him. Yet Mr Falzon's resignation came totally out of the blue. More than what was revealed in the minister's letter to him, which the WSC chairman deemed unacceptable, heaven knows what went on behind the scenes.

For no minister, even one not as blunt as Austin Gatt, would wait for administrative matters to go over the brink before expressing himself. Minister Gatt, first through his minions and then directly, must have been telling chairman Falzon that he was not satisfied with important aspects of the WSC's operations. Mr Falzon, on his part, is not the sort of man to have held back from explaining and standing by his reply.

It must have been a clash of titans, without any mumbling of Yes, Minister to be detected. That is what must have driven Minister Gatt to write in the way he wrote. As the accountable politician he was covering his backside by putting pen to paper indelibly to record his angry dissatisfaction. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi must be rolling his eyes to the heavens and wondering what to expect next.

Within the bowels of his party some would be gloating behind their hand. On its part, the Labour Opposition must be rubbing its hands in glee. The public may marvel, but can neither gloat, nor be gleeful. People will be wondering at the minister's oscillation between exhortation and threat. If the WSC does not heed his words he would get the auditor general to investigate, he more or less said.

Never mind the way the minister bypasses the Finance Minister, who happens to be his Prime Minister - that is more fodder for the Opposition. What the public will ask is why, if the minister feels there is enough ground to involve the auditor general, did he not set that in motion the moment he reached his conclusion.

Whether Michael Falzon stays or goes, the matter will not stop there. I should think the opposition, apart from the hay it will be making from this bonus treat, will mobilise the Public Accounts Committee, to request it to get the auditor general to investigate, with Minister Austin Gatt as the prime giver of evidence.

The letter by Minister Gatt to berate the WSC has opened a hornets' nest. It will be interesting to see how the PM will handle this one. He must be feeling like a kangaroo has double-kicked him in the teeth.