Malta’s recent experience has shown that a culture of corruption permeates every aspect of society, ranging in degrees of seriousness from nepotism and clientelism to bribery, embezzlement, theft, fraud and political and judicial abuse of power for private gain.
What can be done about it? Three key actions are urgently needed. The first step is for the major political parties to recognise that they are both guilty. At present, every instance of corruption simply leads to a cat-fight, with both blaming each other.
In opposition, the parties promise to root out corruption. When in office – as we have seen so disappointingly with the Enemalta smart meter scam – the opportunity to score political points takes precedence over the need to deal ruthlessly with the perpetrators, including those who colluded in the crime.
The all-party Public Accounts Committee enquiry into the oil procurement fraud and embezzlement is another depressing example of party politics dividing the committee instead of both parties together forensically exposing those guilty and putting in place the necessary administrative and legislative steps to ensure it does not happen again.
For laws against corruption to be effective, wrongdoing must be uncovered regardless of party affiliation. They must be applied firmly and impartially. Otherwise, the rule of law – which is the bedrock of the fight against corruption – is undermined.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat won a landslide victory on the back of public disgust at the oil-gate scandal and his firm promise to stamp out corruption. He began well with the introduction of a Whistleblower’s Act and the removal of the statute of limitations for politicians involved in corruption. Steps are also afoot to revise the Ministerial Code of Ethics and to introduce a Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in Parliament.
But his efforts have been undermined by his clientelist approach to public appointments and his weak handling of the smart meters scandal. Both political leaders need to show the statesmanship to draw a line under the past and to declare, in unison, that corruption in Maltese public life will no longer be tolerated and will be eradicated. It requires a combined effort of political will. This is the key.
Secondly, together they must exercise the political leadership to provide the administrative and institutional tools for this to happen. Is Malta a genuinely rule-based democracy, or do we simply place too much emphasis on tribal elections and too little on the other essential features of democracy?
Is respect for the rule of law solidly underpinned by robust institutions to apply it, with proper checks and balances on the executive, and open, transparent and accountable government to bolster the fight against corruption?
Government, together with Opposition, must ensure that institutional structures to curb corruption are firmly established. Since their parties have demonstrated they cannot be relied upon to tackle the monster of corruption they have created, the forthcoming review of the Maltese Constitution must consider the need to write binding anti-corruption safeguards into it.
Malta is a signatory to most major anti-corruption international conventions. It is a member of the Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) and, with one important exception, has had a virtually clean bill of health on its National Anti-fraud and Corruption Strategy. A specialised Economic Crimes Unit exists in the Police Force to tackle fraud.
As in many areas of international law and public administration, Malta ticks all the right boxes. But, alas, there is a glaring gap between what Malta signs up to and what it delivers. GRECO is highly critical of the fact that Malta’s Permanent Commission Against Corruption has never been given the teeth – a fully-fledged investigative arm with wide-ranging powers – to implement its role effectively.
Politicians have allowed Maltese society to be taken for a ride, a ride in which we have been complicit
It is a matter of concern therefore that under the Judicial Reform Commission’s proposals the Permanent Commission Against Corruption is apparently to be disbanded. Unless this were replaced by an independent Special Commissioner for Corruption with teeth (possibly reporting not to the Minister for Justice, but to the President), this would be a grave error. Corruption will occur if the gain outweighs the chance of being caught. Moreover, the criminal penalty for those who transgress must be punitive and sufficient to deter.
A start has been made with the reform of the administration of justice. But this has a long way to go before its full implementation and there have been too many examples of good intentions foundering on the rocks of vested interests.
The government has published comprehensive proposals to reform the rules on party political financing so that the names of all donors are made public. But we have been here before, and it remains to be seen whether the political will exists to enact a workable law.
The National Audit Office does an excellent job at identifying administrative malpractice. But its work is limited both by the resources available and the inevitable post facto nature of its examinations. The internal watchdog apparatus in those areas where experience has shown corruption to be rife – Enemalta, Mepa, VAT and tax compliance, Customs, the judiciary – should be considerably strengthened.
Deterrence can only succeed if people are aware that internal control procedures are tight and the chances of being caught are high.
The third action rests with society itself. There can be no solutions to social and political problems that do not involve civil society exercising active citizenship in pursuit of civic values and the common interest. We need a change of culture.
Politicians have allowed Maltese society to be taken for a ride, a ride in which we have been complicit. The strength of citizens as individuals must in future act as a counter-weight to vested political and corporate interests and strive to promote institutional accountability.
We turn a blind eye to the sin of greed. Greed and its Siamese twin, corruption, are accepted as part of the Maltese way of life. They should not be. The Catholic Church still has an influential role to play and it must be encouraged to do so.
The Archbishop hinted at corruption in society when he spoke last September about the loss of moral fibre in Malta. The Maltese Bishops’ Lenten Pastoral Letter vigorously conveyed the message that not paying taxes, bribing public officials and other aspects of corruption represent sinful behaviour and undermine social behaviour. He should build on these themes by advocating more strongly that the law be used to constrain what is, at root, immoral behaviour.
We are fortunate to have a vibrant independent press. Good investigative journalism led to the exposure of massive Enemalta embezzlement. The press should continue to pursue stories which are in the public interest, exposing serious misdemeanours and preventing society being misled.
It must continue objectively to assess the failures and follies of our political masters – and, yes, other powerful institutions including the presidency, the judiciary and the Maltese Church – in a fashion which may sometimes provoke dismay. The country needs this robust form of reporting if it wants to preserve an open society.
Encouraged by the Church and held to account by the media and civil society, the leaders of both parties need ultimately, together, to resolve to cut out the cancer of corruption.