Malliagate, the Sheehan Shoot-out, the Cover-up Conspiracy, the sieħbi saga – whatever you choose to call it – the story has got legs. People are still talking about Paul Sheehan careening through the streets like a Maltese version of Jason Statham spraying the car he is chasing with bullets while on the phone with befuddled colleagues in the Police Control Room. Though the inquiry findings have been published, there are still many questions which have not been answered to date.

Did Sheehan and Stephen Smith know each other before the incident, or was the fracas really brought about by a broken side mirror? Why are no criminal proceedings to be taken in respect of the police officer, considered to be responsible for tampering with the crime scene? Will he just go back from a couple of weeks on forced leave (quite enjoyable at this time of year anyway) to his law enforcement duties? And if this is the case, why is the police sergeant accused of deleting part of a police report languishing in jail, while colleagues accused of more serious transgressions running free doing their Christmas shopping?

These – and other questions – will probably go unanswered – as the media whirlwind moves on. However, this scandal has shone a spotlight on cracks within the previously formidable Labour machine

Manuel Mallia is the most high profile casualty to date. He has had to carry the can for much of the mess. But the situation has had its toll on the Prime Minister. Although the Opposition has tried very hard to incriminate Joseph Muscat for some Watergate-like cover-up via his communications co-ordinator Kurt Farrugia, it has not managed to find the notorious smoking gun – any specific directives from the Prime Minister to hush things up. Still, Muscat has to bear some responsibility for the incident – not for causing it or concealing it, but for allowing it to develop and for not taking measures to nip it in the bud.

The root cause of the problem is very clearly the utter unsuitability of individuals like Sheehan being given positions of trust with ministers. The impression that the public got is that shady characters were welcome and tolerated under Labour’s big tent.

Harking back to the sins of his predecessor will get Muscat nowhere

The Prime Minister chose to ignore the concerns voiced in this regard. His default position in these situations is to hit back referring to the hypocrisy of the Opposition and that the PN has its fair share of questionable appointees and shady hangers on. He still doesn’t get it. People were not comfortable with Zeppi l-Ħafi like chums; they were appalled at the Enemalta saga for which the PN-appointed Tancred Tabone is being prosecuted. They do not want a repetition of that under Labour. So harking back to the sins of his predecessor will get Muscat nowhere.

If he really wants to be convincing about his zero tolerance approach to sleaze, he should not pass off people convicted of revenge porn crimes as “soldiers of steel” and should severe the party’s ties to other questionable characters regardless of the financial contributions they pull in and the influence they have with certain lobby groups.

Besides being the right thing to do, it is the pragmatic self-preserving option. Sooner or later, sleazy situations blow up – perhaps not as spectacularly as in this case – but they do. When that happens, the Prime Minister will want to be on the side of the angels.

• The Sheehan saga has pushed the Leisure Clothing Ltd saga off the front pages. It shouldn’t have. The testimony given by employee Van Hoang Thi Cam last week makes for harrowing reading. She says she was only given €150 every two months, made to work horrendously long hours, had a limited water allowance and was forced to work even when sick. She did not have access to her identification documents. She was basically a slave. When I was reading the newspaper report, it struck me as being somewhat familiar.

In fact, the methods allegedly employed at Leisure Clothing Ltd bear a striking resemblance to the forced labour of Qatari migrant workers. In a report published last year, Amnesty International listed abuses being perpetrated on migrants. These include workers arriving in Qatar to find that the terms and conditions of their work are different to those they had been promised during the recruitment process, with salaries being lower than promised, workers having their pay withheld for months or not being paid at all, migrant workers having their passports confiscated and being prevented from leaving the country by their employers, workers being made to work excessive (sometimes extreme) hours and employers failing to protect workers’ health and safety adequately and workers being housed in squalid accommodation.

Sounds familiar? Another thing which is disturbingly familiar was the reaction of the Qatari Under Secretary of Labour. He said that the reports of labour abuses were an effort to undermine Qatar and a conspiracy driven entirely by political motivations. I have read a similar reaction from the most unexpected quarters (not political ones).

It makes me very, very uneasy about a positive and just outcome for the slaves in our midst.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt