Baffled. This, I would say, is the predominant reaction of the country’s silent majority towards the dodgy financing scheme which Simon Busuttil has insisted on forging ahead with. Hardly anyone can understand how a political party, in 2016, can receive funds in such a secretive manner, reminiscent of money laundering schemes. And when I say anyone, I include genuine Nationalist Party sympathisers.

It is now universally acknowledged that the clique that ruled for so many years within the PN has practically driven the party into the hardest of brick walls. This clique has not only led the party to register the heaviest electoral defeat since 1947 but has made it stoop it so low that it is unrecognisable.

Busuttil, through his elite establishment, has simply made matters worse.

Some of Busuttil’s own colleagues now describe him as their biggest disappointment. Others claim his so-called leadership has rendered the PN into a club of selfish interests.

It is not my intention to interfere in how the Opposition leader should deal with his troubled days but his haphazard reaction to these internal rifts is definitely of vast national interest.

In an attempt to regroup the party faithful and win back their support, Busuttil opted to declare that an election is coming soon in which he will have at his disposal some €3 million in funds through ċedoli. In other words, the secret debt scheme which was launched on Maundy Thursday of this year.

The PN asked individuals and companies to donate at least €10,000, which will be paid back after 10 years at four per cent interest. It was made clear that any sort of amounts will be accepted. All donors would be kept secret.

No limits, no names. What exactly is there to hide?

We are living in a time when the Labour government has acted on the need of introducing more transparency in politics through a party financing law that puts minds at rest about who is donating what.

Is there a link between the companies Simon Busuttil sought to defend, like the heavily polluting fish-farm operators, and the ċedoli?

Greco, the Council of Europe’s Organisation against Corruption, had described the law as ground-breaking. It allows people to know where political parties stand. At the very first opportunity, however, Busuttil chose to evade the higher standards we have delivered. He chose to accept funds, wherever they come from, keeping everything under wraps, away from the public eye.

No wonder previous PN governments, one after the other, never had the will to regulate party financing.

Beating around the bush won’t get Busuttil anywhere. Saying it is a loan and not a donation is just puerile, to say the least.

The worrying fact remains that the spirit of the law – that is, giving people the right to know who is funding political parties – is blatantly breached by the ċedoli scheme. And it is breached in a very amateurish way.

Is the PN informing the donors, including the party faithful, of its financial situation? Since general secretary Rosette Thake is on record saying that “nothing in life is guaranteed”, how can we be sure that donors will really be paid back by the heavily indebted party?

And if they are not paid back, would the €3 million ‘loan’ not become an unpublicised donation which falls under the realms of party financing law, hence, making it illegal from the word go?

What type of due diligence was carried out on who had hefty amounts to deliver to Dar Ċentrali? Was the mentioned sum collected from 30 individuals who paid €100,000 each? Or were there only three companies that donated €1 million each?

Is there a link between the companies Busuttil sought to defend, like the heavily polluting fish-farm operators, and the ċedoli?

These basic questions deserve a clear answer. Because, quite frankly, one cannot blame those who suspect bad intentions. This is nothing but a dubious scheme that strongly favours clientelism.

Even though in Opposition, the PN is promoting a political culture steeped in patronage. Let alone if in government.

Preaching transparency is simply not enough. For the sake of credibility, Busuttil must publish the names of all donors without further delay.

Just come clean on your secret debt scheme. Then, let the people judge.

Owen Bonnici is Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government.