The previous Saturday, Marlene Farrugia and a number of sympathisers announced the formation of Malta’s fourth political party. As they are unhappy with PL, PN and AD they decided to go it alone. Such is their right. But those who label this grouping as the fourth political party are mistaken.

Besides the PL, PN and AD there is another political party. It does not have one leader, it is not registered as a party and adherents swear that it does not exist; it has members in different political parties as well as in other sectors of society. Its ideology is money. Its political programme is to make more money for its super-rich members.

Its clubs, we have been recently informed by Minister Evarist Bartolo, are farmhouses spread around Malta. I guess there is also the odd villa.

Bartolo spoke about all this when he addressed Parliament during the motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister’s right-hand man, Keith Schembri, because of his involvement in the Panama Papers scandal.

Bartolo said that on becoming a minister in 1996 he was invited by an eminent lawyer to a fenkata at a farm in the south of Malta. He gladly accepted though was not privy to the guest list. On arrival, he was surprised to find well-known lawyers, members of the judi­ciary and land speculators. All honourable men posturing as pillars of the community. The prandial conversation was anything but light banter. On the contrary, Bartolo told us that the conversation centred on land transfers and large projects.

There is a mafia that tries to keep a low-key but effective presence within all institutions which can be milked for their benefits

“I was worried,” Bartolo told Parliament. And rightly so, say all of us. Such covert meetings brook no good except for those who want to take unjust and probably corrupt advantage over the rest of us.

Bartolo shared his reflection on the meeting: “I said: there are political parties; we criticise and confront each other; we write electoral programmes and make speeches; there is Parliament and there are law courts where decisions are taken. I realised that behind the façade of democracy, important decisions are taken in backrooms, in farms on Saturday afternoon and not during Parliamentary sittings. [Decisions are not taken only] in places where electoral programmes are compiled, or by us who make a lot of sacrifices to dedicate ourselves to politics.”

Bartolo said that he only went once to such a gathering. He was never invited again as the organisers realised that he was not ready to play their dirty game. He added that invitations to go on yachts or the gym dried up as well.

Bully for him. We need more honest politicians who like him to shun such gatherings.

Unfortunately however, it stands to reason (aided by well-placed rumours) that other politicians of different persuasions were and are invited to such fenkati, to trips on yachts, to gyms and other jaunts, to be encouraged to play ball.

The corrupt relationship between politics and business is a pet peeve of mine.

On more than one occasion I have written about these circles within circles of politics and business. They form concentric circles of unholy alliances. Bartolo describes their existence as a whole eco-system of wheeling and dealing.

This reality, whether described as backroom machinations or unholy alliances, is perhaps the worst enemy of democracy. It entangles democracy in its deadly snare, thus suffocating it.

During his speech, Bartolo said that behind every corrupt politician there is a corrupt businessman. I totally agree. I add that there are corrupt businessmen not only behind corrupt politicians but behind corrupt judges, behind officials responsible for all sorts of permits, and behind police officers.

It is very clear that there is a parallel universe to the publicly known and paraded one. There is a mafia that tries to keep a low-key but effective presence within all institutions that can be milked for their benefits.

Undoubtedly there were shady dealings in previous administrations, but we live in the here and now, so comments are due about the here and now. Almost all scandals that rocked the nation during the past three years were the result of these sordid bed-sharing, backroom pre-electoral deals or in anticipation of more sordid bed-sharing.

There should be, as Bartolo noted, strong institutions facilitating transparency and accountability. But concurrently, politicians should learn to keep business people and developers at arm’s length. The latter cosy up to politicians for no other reason than to gain filthy lucre.

The President of the Republic is to be praised for appealing for unity and mutual respect. But Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca would serve the country much more if she found it within her both to attack these deadly spiders weaving the corrupt cobwebs that are stifling public life, and to ask the constitutionally established institutions to wake up from their hibernation. This is where the main threat to our country lies.

• Minister Bartolo, while answering questions from journalists about the scandal that Konrad Mizzi has embroiled himself in, clearly said that Mizzi should resign. He added that he surely would not have opened a company in Panama and had he done so he would have resigned.

Bartolo then referred to a Roman saying that there is a law for the gods and a law for the animals. Since then, this has been repeated over and over again. I cannot comment on the context of the quote as a Google search gave me no results.

I have no doubt that Bartolo has his own sound references to support him. But the validity of the saying loses none of its vigour even if it was said by someone else and not by the ancient Romans.

Meanwhile the gods, fully cognisant that things have to change in order to remain the same, made cosmetic changes hoping to strengthen their position in the firmament. But they should not delude themselves: the animals will neither forget nor forgive, even if they take some respite for Euro 2016.

joseph.borg@um.edu.mt