Soon after Joseph Muscat was swept to power with overwhelming support he confronted a mountain of criticism over the buying of Café Premier. Then came Australia Hall, the forced resignations of Manuel Mallia (who is back in the Cabinet) and Michael Falzon, and some weeks ago the disclosure of the Panama Papers which shocked the world.

One of Muscat’s top ministers, a hard-working chap by the name of Konrad Mizzi, together with Keith Schembri, Muscat’s chief of staff, were mentioned in these Panama Papers. Muscat has been faced with intense pressure to sack these two gentlemen but he was adamant not to.

Muscat is now confronting increasing scepticism over his latest Cabinet reshuffle in which Mizzi remained in the Cabinet as Minister Without Portfolio and still in charge of energy projects. The inconvenient truth is that Muscat’s increasingly failed attempts to restore trust in his government may well be far more damaging to his credibility than he thinks.

It is very dangerous for Muscat to disappoint the Maltese electorate which swept him to power in 2013 because they trusted him.  He has been dragging his feet for far too long, hoping against hope to gain time and keep his ‘business as usual’ strategy.

It is absolute madness for Muscat to keep the whole country on edge because of his stubbornness. Malta should be looking towards a better future and not the endless saga of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri.