A recent opinion piece tackling corruption posed the following question: Is the Prime Minister happy just to refer matters to the Commissioner of Police for investigation? (The Times, July 6). The responsibility to investigate allegations of corruption lies with the Commissioner of Police and I am very sure that no one would "be happy" if the Police Commissioner failed to carry out any investigation in a responsible and professional manner. Thankfully, we all know that this is not so and the majority of us have blind faith in the Commissioner of Police.

I fully agree with the author of the piece that "Fighting corruption should not be a political game. Politicians from all sides should be united in their commitment to containing corruption". Unhappily, this is not always the case in Malta.

On Monday, May 31, during a discussion programme on state television, the Prime Minister shared his concern that the opposition was not taking the initiative to report to the proper authorities instances of "alleged" corruption. He added that if there is a strong suspicion of any wrongdoing, the appropriate person to receive and act upon the information is the Commissioner of Police, whose thorough investigations have always been impeccable.

The Prime Minister reminded us that the responsibility to report any dubious goings on does not lie solely on his shoulders. It falls on each and every one of us. We all have the sacrosanct duty to take a personal initiative and report any serious hint of corruption, perceived or otherwise, directly to the Police Commissioner for investigation because corruption must be fought tooth and nail by everyone.

The Prime Minister also expressed his alarm over the fact that, after voicing certain allegations in Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition left the island to travel to Australia failing to pass information beforehand to the Commissioner of Police. The Prime Minister, on the other hand, who was abroad at the time, contacted the Commissioner of Police from the airport immediately on his arrival.

If the opposition sincerely believes that corruption is lurking at every corner it must carry out its duty and inform the police. Fuelling suspicion and resorting to sensationalism and fancy theatrics over such serious issues is the worst strategy the opposition can adopt in the national interest. A case in point: last week, on July 13, a man accused of corrupt practices at the last general election was declared not guilty by the court. The case was instituted after allegations made Labour deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia that the accused had threatened two employees and ordered them to vote Nationalist.

Apparently, all the sensational hype the Labour deputy leader stirred outside the police headquarters when he presented his "files" containing fool-proof damning evidence fizzled out into one big fat zero! To add insult to injury, the Labour deputy leader has since alleged that the magistrate does not know the law!

Another question left hanging in the opinion piece read: "Can the government really say that it is doing its utmost to contain this disease?" Yes, the Nationalist government's zero tolerance and pro-active approach to corruption has been constant.

We all remember former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami's immediate response to allegations of corruption concerning two Maltese judges.

Regrettably, other cases have seen the light of day since then, albeit not as earth-shattering as those undermining the second highest institution of the land, the Judiciary.

One of the first things the PN government did when it was elected in 1987 was to guillotine the institutionalised corruption practices inherited from the previous Labour government. Apart from restoring the lost trust in the Police Force, the PN government immediately set up the Permanent Commission Against Corruption, established in virtue of Act No XXII of 1988 (Chapter 326 of the Laws of Malta).

To eradicate discrimination and injustices, the PN government introduced the 1995 Ombudsman Act giving the office "the power to investigate the administrative actions taken by or on behalf of the government and other authorities and for other purposes connected therewith".

To eliminate any form of discrimination based on sex, family responsibilities in all sectors and at all levels with respect of training and employment and the provision of services and benefits, the government set up the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality in January 2004. The commission also ensures that there is no racial and/or ethnic origin discrimination in the provision of goods and services.

We all want to fight corruption but it is evident that in spite of the PN government's increased legislation and the subsequent setting up in 1997 of the Tribunal for the Investigation of Injustices to combat discrimination, inequality, corruption etc. the culture of the "victims" of crime and corrupt practices has remained unchanged.

Malta is tiny and everyone knows, or is related to, everyone else and, unfortunately, when "crimes" are committed, often, important witnesses prefer to adopt the Italian omertà mentality lest their families' and businesses' well-being be put at risk. This code of silence, a veritable obstruction to justice, undoubtedly hinders investigations from being carried out in an optimum manner.

There lies the real problem, an "apolitical" one to boot!

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