Editorial

As the country slips back into routine, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi once again takes up his Sunday political appointment with the public and, as is the norm in the talks or interviews he gives, paints an optimistic picture. In his first radio political interview after the summer break, he dished out figures to prove his point – that the economic indicators are positive. At the same time, however, he referred to the heatwave in Russia which, he said, could raise the price of cereals and flour, and to the price of oil, which was still unstable.

All this is very well and, in the light of the controversies over fraud and irregularities that have clouded the political environment and kept summer alive, very encouraging. Apart from giving full backing to his party’s general secretary over the decisions he took for the removal of the Sliema mayor and his comments about the political parties’ participation in local councils, about which he still strongly agrees, Dr Gonzi seems to have steered clear of issues that, together with the impropriety cases involving a string of local councils, have taken centre stage, such as the “discrimination” accusation by the European Commission over the contract for the extension of the power station at Delimara.

Insofar as the local councils are concerned, it is true there are many other councils that have not been tainted by wrongdoing but it would be wrong to sweep the latest wave of impropriety under the carpet as if nothing is happening or to shift the argument to the fact that the councils’ executive secretaries are no longer answerable to their councils but to the government, however much the move was desirable. Have all the cases that cropped up been flagged by the executive secretaries? And even if they have, some of the cases that have been made public are still of concern and call for greater emphasis to be placed on uprightness by people contesting local council posts.

As regards the comments made by the Prime Minister about the Sliema council, perhaps he overlooked the fact that the former mayor had retracted the statement he made to the police that he had sought a bribe. In fact, he is pleading not guilty to charges of bribery and reviling a public officer, insisting he had been coerced in signing the police statement. As a matter of principle, should not anyone be allowed to defend himself first before punitive action is taken against him?

Without in any way entering into the merits of the case, and whatever the eventual outcome of the legal action that is being taken, instant dismissal from the party may have been uncalled for at that particular stage. Naturally, this point does in no way diminish the very strong argument over the need for much stricter ethical standards, financial control, and propriety as a matter of principle.

But to go back to the economic indicators given by the Prime Minister, these do suggest the economy is improving. The Central Bank has confirmed this too, saying the recovery that started in the last quarter of 2009 gathered momentum in the first quarter this year. As already remarked, all this is very encouraging but it is highly unlikely that it will deflect attention from the string of hot issues that have been reflecting badly on the government. These primarily revolve around transparency and good governance, matters over which the party in government is stumbling at a pace that is beginning to amaze even diehard party supporters.