Unfortunately, there could be a massive difference between being elected democratically and behaving democratically once in office. One of the more important hallmarks of an active democracy is whether the institutions there to safeguard its functioning are genuinely respected and allowed to fulfil their role.

The resignation by the director of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, Manfred Galdes, is a very serious matter that cannot be allowed to go unnoticed simply because it is the silly season and many people prefer to switch off for their summer holidays.

The fact that one of the major strategies being pursued by the government is precisely that of hoping that the passage of time can conceal and cure its misdemeanours makes the job of the party in Opposition a harder one but equally one that must be carried out with more determination than ever before.

The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit is set up in terms of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Galdes is known for his integrity, honesty, commitment to ensuring the mission entrusted to him in terms of law and to do that through a no-nonsense approach, irrespective of whatever and whomever the unit may have to investigate.

We know through the government’s own Minister of Finance that the unit took it upon itself to investigate how the Panama scandal implicated the Prime Minister’s ‘disappointing’ minister of energy, who was transformed into Minister Without Portfolio but remains in charge of energy, and his equally ‘disappointing’ chief of staff.

For ethical reasons, the righteous cannot speak out while, for unethical reasons, the hideous carry on

Four months following the revelation by the Minister of Finance in Parliament about the unit’s probe, we find out that the director of that unit has now resigned. What is emerging prompts us to ask whether the probe was concluded, whether findings were sent to the former commissioner of police who resigned (officially because of health reasons) and whether the findings now rest with the fifth Commissioner of Police appointed by government in the space of three years.

And if you wish to have another twist to the engulfing real-life thriller, here it is: ask questions about the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, about its head, about the inaction of the Commissioner of Police and you are told that you are interfering with independent institutions.

Exactly, shut up because by speaking out to protect such institutions and insisting that they be allowed to carry out their functions you are being disrespectful.

In the meantime, we have a new bottom line: the people who in any democracy should have resigned or forced to leave are still there – parading around in Malta, European councils, Singapore or wherever – just to arrogantly remind us that they are still there and fully in charge and at least one righteous person tasked to probe their behaviour is the one who ends up feeling the need to resign.

For ethical reasons, the righteous cannot speak out while, for unethical reasons, the hideous carry on as if nothing has ever happened.

In a landmark decision in a case instituted by the late Archbishop Joseph Mercieca against the Prime Minister, the Constitutional Court, in 1984, asserted “that it would be endangering democracy in Malta if it were to remain unconstituted in the hope that the Executive might some day decide to constitute [it]”.

The judgment affirms the principle that democracy cannot thrive without the institutions that safeguard it. That principle does not apply only to the Constitutional Court, which can constitute itself by being formed of the three most senior judges in office at the time. Regrettably, other institutions do not enjoy similar safeguards and heavily depend on the government to safeguard them. The government is in duty bound to ensure that it acts all the time – especially when it least suits its partisan interests – in a democratic manner.

That includes guaranteeing the independence and freedom of action in favour of important institutions such as the Financial Analysis Intelligence Unit. That includes acting on the findings of such a unit and having a police force that is respected for upholding the rule of law.

Ultimately, that means doing away with deceit, upholding the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Francis Zammit Dimech is a Nationalist MP.