The week could not have started off in worse fashion for the Labour government – which showed that if Manuel Mallia is not being cheered by convicts, he is the object of rapturous applause when someone under his direct responsibility is on the verge of becoming one – but it ended in unmitigated disaster as damning transcripts were released by the Nationalist Party showing up more lies and attempts at a cover up.

If Dr Mallia truly had any regard for the government he chose to form part of, he would have resigned by now to spare it ever-increasing embarrassment. The fact he has not done so is yet another example of the political misjudgement he has been haunted by since taking over the most sensitive ministry.

But in the absence of a display of belated honour from his minister, the Prime Minister has failed the country dismally by not sacking him. Whatever the conclusions of the inquiry he set up – one would presume its findings will be published imminently, even though they are to a large extent irrelevant – his failure to act at a crucial moment has far-reaching and damaging repercussions.

If this was not Dr Muscat’s fault at the start of this mess, it has certainly become so as he has unforgivably procrastinated from one day to the next.

In the meantime the flood of damaging revelations has continued. Not only has this reality dealt the first real body blow to his government, but it has also contributed in no small measure to the destruction of public confidence in our forces of law and order and the minister responsible for them.

Not only do people no longer trust the police due to a string of revelations in recent days – as well as allegations over many months of political interference – but worse than that, members of the public are starting to fear them. We have not been in this situation since the ­Nationalist Party’s watershed election victory in 1987.

Rather than presiding over the problem, the Prime Minister is in grave danger of becoming the problem.

Instead of seeking to save a semblance of face, he should be announcing wholesale change in the government ministry responsible for our forces of law and order, and within the police force itself.

First, he must admit the huge mistake he made in parking such a mammoth ­portfolio – army, police, national security, broadcasting, lands (and originally justice) – under one minister. Never must this be allowed to happen again.

Secondly, he must immediately make the appropriate appointments to put this situation right.

In the meantime, we can only hope that the individuals in charge of these vital organs of State will do everything they can to eliminate the very strong ­elements of suspicion and distrust that exist.

This can only happen if the police become truly independent of the government. A pipe dream? Perhaps. But it is an objective we as a nation must work towards and bring pressure to bear to achieve. Three police commissioners in the space of 18 months tells its own story, as does the fact that the media feel unable to obtain information from the police.

The government’s attitude towards power also needs to change. A large majority to govern is just that. It is not licence to do as one pleases. That is dictatorship. No majority can ever justify the unjustifiable, as this administration has sought to do on more than one occasion since coming to power.

The ability to determine right from wrong, and to govern in a manner that reflects this, is ultimately what will define Dr Muscat. We are about to see what he is really made of.

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