What this country has been living through over the past eight weeks has been nothing short of surreal. We have witnessed the development of a unique scenario for a democratic country in the EU. In this case, its uniqueness is not something we should be proud of but something we need to overcome as soon as possible so that our country can retrieve its sense of direction, purpose, and above all, normality.

It would be inconceivable in any other EU state for a Prime Minister to act as though it was the most normal thing in the world for an important Minister of State and his right-hand man to form trusts in New Zealand which own secret companies in Panama after taking office.

As though it is not bad enough that these antics have occurred in the first place, what is even worse is that the Prime Minister stood by for eight whole weeks and did nothing about it in the hope that the matter would just blow over. This means he either has absolutely no insight into what constitutes a grave and serious matter or knows it perfectly well and will still do what he wants to do in the most despotic of manners, even if it causes great harm to the country.

It has not done the Prime Minister himself any good either because his failure to kick them out unceremoniously eight weeks ago has led people to conclude that both Mizzi and Schembri have something over him.

Well he didn’t get rid of them when he should have, and last Sunday Malta was humiliated by having to witness the picture of Mizzi being placed alongside some of the world’s most notorious dictators.

Don’t worry about our Ċedoli, they are fine and perfectly in order. Just concentrate on running this country properly

Had the Prime Minister taken the right decision then, at least we would have been able to say, “Well he is not a minister anymore.” Some advertisement for Malta when we are supposed to be attracting top-class investment to our country, and in an area in which we have all worked so hard to excel in and build a reputation.

I am speaking about the world of international investment and financial services. When the Nationalist government’s vision led to the setting up of sectors that have made us proud to be Maltese, Malta grew in stature. We proved we were a serious jurisdiction, where democracy ruled supreme, a full member of the EU, led by a government which was serious and aimed to excel.

The Panama Papers and the international parading of our own Minister of Health and Energy will lead to questions about our seriousness and our standards. How can we afford to run the risk of having 25 years of toil wiped out because our Prime Minister did not take the steps any serious statesman would have taken.

And while these issues of national importance grip the country, Labour just try to create one decoy after another. As the latest bomb exploded in Labour’s face last Sunday, it appeared to be concerned about the Skema Ċedoli 2016.

First they attempt to ridicule it, then allege that those giving the party a loan of €10,000, by cheque please note, are first-class money launderers and criminals (how insulting). And then they attempt to say that this is a way of getting around the party financing law.

Well I have news for Labour – the answer is none of the above. The law on party financing talks about “donations”. The danger with donations is that there will inevitably be donors who only donate in anticipation of what they might receive later.

This is precisely why Skema Ċedoli is so revolutionary and the way forward for political parties that want to rid themselves of such donations. A person is not giving a donation but voluntarily loans a sum which will be paid back at a four per cent interest rate. The obligations of the party towards the lender consist in the payment of interest, and that’s it.

Furthermore, the party financing law considers loans to be donations when the terms are more favourable than ordinary commercial terms. How can four per cent be considered more favourable than ordinary commercial terms?

So really the best advice I can give Labour is for them to adopt the same scheme! That is, if they need the money. Because the irony and hypocrisy of it all is that as soon as the Labour Party was elected to office, it gave itself Australia Hall, worth €10 million.

Only after that deal was done and dusted was the party financing law enacted. In the meantime, thanks to the foresight of our forefathers, the Nationalist Party is asset rich, and therefore it is the Nationalist Party with its assets which is guaranteeing the repayment.

So my message to Labour is, please, don’t worry about our Ċedoli, they are fine and perfectly in order. Just concentrate on running this country properly and giving it back the dignity it deserves.

Ann Fenech is president of the executive committee of the Nationalist Party.