When the Times of Malta broke the story about the expropriation of one-fourth of a building in Old Mint Street, Valletta, Michael Falzon said this was a case of ‘much ado about nothing’. Following the publication of the Auditor General’s report, he quoted from another Shakespearean play, The Merchant of Venice, saying that someone is after his pound of flesh.

One wonders whether the Shylock that Falzon has in mind is the Auditor General, the Times of Malta or a member of the Opposition? The truth is that no one wants a pound of Falzon’s flesh. What everyone wants is something that Labour promised three years ago and failed to deliver. The one thing that everyone expected out of this government is five years of good governance. Sadly, that promise faded away within hours of Joseph Muscat walking up the stairs of the Auberge de Castille.

The Auditor General’s report is a clear-cut condemnation of how this country is being governed. It condemns the total disregard of good governance procedures, the absolute lack of transparency, the absence of a justified “public purpose” for the expropriation, questions the valuations effected and concludes that there was total collusion. This is the fourth report by the Auditor General, in under three years, that slams Muscat’s government for showing an acute lack of good governance.

If one had to look at these reports from a purely partisan angle, one could equate them with a run of aces in poker, a winning hand that can help the Nationalist Party in its efforts to regain the people’s trust. True as that might be, the issues at stake here go beyond partisan politics.

The issues at stake here go beyond partisan politics

This is yet another blow to the reputation of politics in Malta. This is another reason for the electorate to lose faith in politicians and the administration of this country. This is a sad day for politics in Malta. Frankly speaking, Falzon’s relegation to the backbench does little to address the rising mistrust. Falzon and, indeed, Muscat’s government, are one step behind the people’s expectations in this regard.

The people expect all the individuals mentioned in the Auditor General’s report to face the music. This government was quick to publicly and unfairly crucify three public officials for participating in a PN focus group on finance. What is the government going to do about the officials singled out by the Auditor General for their gross disregard for the interests of the public? They should be held to account.

We are talking here of public officials who were handpicked by this government and placed in sensitive positions, paid out of our taxes to safeguard our interests. They failed to do so. They and whoever placed them in their exalted positions must therefore face the music. And here the buck stops with the Prime Minister. He appointed Falzon as parliamentary secretary. He allowed the mess to fester for months without taking any action. He is the minister responsible for the Land Department and the planning authority – two entities at the centre of cases of abuse.

He allowed Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg, also at the receiving end of a highly critical and damaging report, to inexplicably stay on.

But then the Prime Minister himself was indicted by the Auditor General for lack of good governance in the Café Premier scandal. The Prime Minister can do no worse than to try and emerge from this debacle as a knight in shining armour when everyone else is seeing dirt dripping down his government. And this dirt, sadly, is not limited to the high profile stories. It is everywhere.

This country has moved back to the days when everything was possible as long as one was prepared to grease the system. The pro-business mantra has transformed itself into something ugly: an underground monster that occasionally rises in the form of a Gaffarena or Café Premier scandal. These are but tentacles of a much larger monster.

The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry reportedly said that when it comes to public standards, our country is in a race to the bottom. When we hit that bottom this is what we will come face to face with: a monster feeding on greed.

I wish I could say the Prime Minister and his ministers are unaware of what is happening around us. But they are not. So, in these circumstances, it is not surprising that corruption features once again, after many years, on the list of the Maltese people’s top concerns.

The Prime Minister has some difficult choices to make. Moving Falzon to the backbench was the easiest and the least to expect. The question is: has he got the moral aptitude and courage to do the rest?

Mario de Marco is deputy leader of the Nationalist Party.