Chris Said’s political correctness

Last Thursday Chris Said announced his resignation from the government following an appeals court decision to institute proceedings against him for perjury. As the outgoing parliamentary secretary explained, the case is a minor one but the charges are serious. Faced with this situation Dr Said did not hesitate to offer his resignation.

The Prime Minister, like those who know and have worked with Dr Said, is hoping for his speedy return to the government but this will depend on the outcome of the proceedings and the length of time that the judiciary will take to hear his case.

As to the former, Dr Said is more than confident of proving his innocence in court while, with regard to the latter, the matter is not in his hands. Dr Said has filed an application for his case to be heard with urgency but it is at the judiciary’s discretion to accept or otherwise his application.

Should it be like this? I think not. Those holding a public office and who have the decency to resign, especially on matters not relating to the post they hold, should not be made to wait. I strongly believe that our judiciary should automatically hear such cases with urgency.

Back to the resignation. It reminds me of two others; the Sta Venera mayor’s and the Żebbuġ, Gozo mayor’s resignations.

For the benefit of readers who are unfamiliar with these cases, these two hard working, honest individuals stepped down from their mayoral posts because of very minor incidents.

Elizabeth Vella, Sta Venera’s former mayor, stepped down after not strictly adhering to the financial regulations involving a sum of €80. In this case the council’s executive secretary seems to have failed to guide the mayor appropriately. On the other hand Charles Saliba, the Żebbuġ, Gozo mayor stepped down because his daughter made use of the council’s laptop to access her Facebook account. Were they politically correct to resign? Maybe, but the fact of the matter is that their respective villages lost the services of valid people on trivial matters.

Dr Said too resigned because of what appears to be a minor case, the details of which were given by him and have nothing to do with his political post. Did this case warrant a resignation? Should one resign from one’s executive post, once accusations of this nature surface? I think so. Unfortunately for politicians it is not enough for one to be clean. Dr Said took the honourable step in the interest of the government of which he formed part.

Having said that, I still believe that Malta lost, at least temporarily, the services of a good, honest, dedicated and hardworking parliamentary secretary. Can we afford, as a nation, to lose the services of valid holders of public office on matters such as the one which emerged this week?

If we expect such high ethical standards from our politicians, we would also be reasonable to expect speedy proceedings from the judiciary in such cases. Dr Said’s application to have his case heard with urgency is therefore justified and all those who demand from our politicians a resignation when allegations surface should also insist on justice being carried out in the shortest possible time. It is not fair on decent and serious politicians, who act proactively and who are prompt to offer their resignation when circumstances arise, to have to wait endlessly for the courts to hear and decide their case.

Dr Said gave us a lesson in political correctness. Political resignations, especially by representatives in senior positions, are not common in Malta. Our politicians should follow Dr Said’s footsteps when faced with a similar set of circumstances. They owe it to the people. The parties should not attempt to score political points when matters unrelated to one’s political post are the cause of one’s resignation.

We, the common people, not only expect political correctness, we also expect judiciary efficiency.