Editorial

For too long, corruption - in its various forms and methods - has been left largely unchecked. Rules and regulations are flouted with impunity. The pervasive culture of illegality at every level seems to be deeply ingrained and the accusation of "institutionalised corruption" has been repeated often enough for many years under different administrations.

With the onset of an election, the accusations and new revelations of corruption reach a new crescendo. Unfortunately, once the elections are out of the way, all the enthusiasm for investigating and punishing abuse seems to evaporate. This attitude has a very negative effect on society and reflects poorly on the civil authorities.

This time round, the political parties made a strong emphasis on the need to introduce and reinforce legislation that would enable the exposure of corrupt behaviour. Both major political parties also promised to introduce a Whistleblower Act that should empower and protect every citizen who contributes to the uncovering of corrupt practices.

Being elected Prime Minister, Lawrence Gonzi has to live up to expectations. Public opinion is sick and tired of seeing the scandalous manner in which certain highly-questionable major building projects have been approved by Mepa, which is also renowned for making life so difficult for the ordinary citizen. The Prime Minister has to show he means business, and now. Too much time has been lost.

The Mistra saga has to be unravelled in as short a time as possible and those guilty of any wrongdoing have to be made publicly accountable - and one is not speaking only of criminal responsibility. But this is not the only issue. There are others. These include the recent high-profile case of Mepa giving the green light to the Safi supermarket project outside development zone.

It is disheartening to see how highly controversial decisions are made at the time of uncertainty, say, during election time. One would be justified in suspecting that these are not chance happenings but well executed and planned out operations that take full advantage of the unacceptable hiatus in law and order that so often exists at such critical periods in a country.

All political forces, especially the major political parties, have a very grave responsibility to make it crystal clear that they will not try to exploit the relative insecurity of the government of the day so as to take unfair, short-term political advantage. Such behaviour costs the country dearly.

It is also irritating to see accusations of corruption bandied about with so much more intensity on the eve of an election.

There seems to be more interest in scoring political points than in cleansing the public sphere. The public is only confused by such antics and tends to become more cynical about politics and politicians. One also hopes that all proposals in the Nationalist Party's electoral programme for a more open and efficient public service, that include a Freedom of Information Act and a Whistleblower Act, will be introduced forthwith. The first law seems to be high on the government agenda and one hopes the Whistleblower Act will follow soon afterwards.

More importantly, one expects action by all concerned. Too often, the opposition appears too inconsistent in seriously ferreting out corruption and cooperating with the relevant institutions already in place. After all, legislation introduced five years ago already provided considerable safeguards for whistleblowers.

Statements, similar to those made by Alfred Sant on the eve of an election. that he could not present other documents on the Mistra case as it would endanger the whistleblowers who lifted the lid on this case, leave a lot to be desired.

New legislation alone will not lead to a cleaner society. The new government has to show that, as far as corruption goes, it will not be business as usual.

The country cannot afford to allow blatant and brazen corruption go on unchecked.