The resignation of John Dalli as European Health Commissioner after an anti-fraud inquiry linked him to an attempt to influence tobacco legislation, and its aftermath, has been embarrassing for Malta.
Mr Dalli is the first European Commissioner to resign after allegations of wrongdoing as a result of an investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, a dubious honour Malta could have done without.
The decision by Lawrence Gonzi to nominate Mr Dalli as a European Commissioner in 2010 was at best controversial, at worst both wrong and risky.
Dalli’s ministerial career in Malta had been overshadowed by allegations of misconduct and in 2004 he was forced to step down as Foreign Minister after only three months in the job. The Prime Minister was well aware of this.
Despite Mr Dalli’s reappointment to Cabinet after the PN’s re-election in 2008 there was clearly never any rapprochement between him and Dr Gonzi. It is clear that the Prime Minister sent him to Brussels to remove a thorn from his side.
In doing so, however, Dr Gonzi ignored other potential candidates who had better credentials than Mr Dalli.
In Brussels, Mr Dalli continued to embarrass the Prime Minister (and the Commission) by criticising the political direction of the Maltese Government as well as expressing support for Muammar Gaddafi’s regime at the height of the Libyan revolution.
One can only presume that the damning conclusions of the EU’s anti-fraud office were reached after painstaking investigation. While it did not find any conclusive evidence of the direct participation of Mr Dalli, it pointed out that he “was aware of these events” and did nothing to stop them.
Although the EU Commission President presumably saw the gathered evidence before informing Mr Dalli he must resign, the only way the public will be satisfied is if it too has an opportunity to view OLAF’s findings in their entirety.
Mr Dalli has, of course, rejected the conclusions but has not helped himself with the way he has acted since the resignation – not least in his interview with New Europe, a little-known Brussels news website, which was somewhat confusing.
During the interview, Mr Dalli presented an e-mail sent to his former canvasser, Silvio Zammit, which shows the tobacco lobbyists were willing to pay for a meeting. He called this an attempt to “bribe” but said Mr Zammit “never asked me for any meeting with these people”.
However, he later admitted taking part in two meetings organised by Mr Zammit, one with a tobacco lobbyist in August 2010 and another with a Maltese lawyer who asked about snus, a smokeless tobacco banned in the EU apart from Sweden, in January 2012.
It would have been far better for Mr Dalli to have published one detailed and comprehensive statement about his actions than to embark on a patchwork exercise.
Malta must now work hard to repair the damage to its image. The Prime Minister cannot afford to get the appointment of a new Commissioner wrong and in Tonio Borg he has a man whose integrity is beyond question.
Dr Borg is also a seasoned politician who is respected by Malta’s foreign embassies. There are also no doubts about his honesty which will stand him in good stead, though he faces the tough hearings that precede the appointment of a Commissioner.
His appointment would mean, of course, that yet another Cabinet portfolio is to be vacated and, perhaps more significantly, that the Nationalist Party may be looking for a new deputy leader before the election.
Whether conducting such a process at this point in time will benefit the party remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: coronations or blood baths are rarely healthy.