During festivities organised by the Nationalist Party to mark 52 years of Independence, Simon Busuttil reiterated that a national coalition against corruption was emerging. At that point a cacophony of ideas came to mind.
I remembered, for example, that as a newscaster on NET television in 2010, I read an item about then Opposition leader Joseph Muscat stating that when in government he would apply a zero-tolerance policy on corruption, while emphatically quoting former prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami that “those who do not fight corruption are corrupt themselves”.
Then, one after another – not necessarily according to their gravity or in chronological order – came to mind the whole array of scandals we lived through since March 2013.
I will stop there about my jumbled ideas on that day, and move to something more substantial about a subject which has emerged so glaring since Premier Joseph Muscat took possession of Castille. I tackle it in a very sombre way, as the situation warrants and as Busuttil underlined in no uncertain way in his visionary speech during the Independence mass meeting.
That Malta is presently in a ‘corruption mess’ is neither a charade invented by Labour’s detractors, nor an invention by some former insider who was left outside in the cold. It is written in black on white by none other than the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption: Transparency International (TI). In an official tweet dated August 9, 2016, TI said: “Malta needs to clean up its corruption mess before it heads to the Council of the EU next year.”
The tweet came only nine months after a joint statement signed by Transparency International and Muscat on the first day of CHOGM in Malta on November 27, 2015. Together they undertook to put fighting corruption at the centre of the Commonwealth, with Cobus de Swardt, TI managing director, saying they were delighted that the Commonwealth will be “taking the fight against corruption so seriously and treating it as a priority”.
Imagine what an unpleasant surprise August’s tweet was for those in the international community who first read Muscat’s undertaking in November, and then TI’s rebuke a few months after. I reckon that for the largest part of our population, and surely for those who endeavour to be as objective as possible, TI’s rebuke was definitely not a surprise and surely didn’t come a day too early.
I will spare you the bother to go through, once more, the list of scandals which, not coincidentally, started exactly three days after Labour took office. Instead, I will pose some relevant general questions about political corruption and then reproduce the relative replies one gets from Transparency International. You will be astonished with the result.
The first question: how would you define corruption?
Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It can be classified as grand, petty and political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs.
Corruption impacts societies in a multitude of ways. In the worst cases, it costs lives
Grand corruption consists of acts committed at a high level of government that distort policies or the central functioning of the state, enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the public good. It causes serious and widespread harm to individuals and society and it often goes unpunished.
Petty corruption refers to everyday abuse of entrusted power by low- and mid-level public officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens, who often are trying to access basic goods or services in places like hospitals, schools, police departments and other agencies.
Political corruption is a manipulation of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision-makers, who abuse their position to sustain their power, status and wealth.
My second question: what is transparency?
Transparency means shedding light on rules, plans, processes and actions.
It is knowing how, what and how much. Transparency ensures that public officials, civil servants, managers, board members and business people act visibly and understandably, and report on their activities.
It means also that the general public can hold these people to account. It is the surest way of guarding against corruption and helps increase trust in the people and institutions on which our future depends.
Transparency can defeat corruption.
A third question: what are the costsof corruption?
Corruption impacts societies in a multitude of ways. In the worst cases, it costs lives. Short of this, it costs people their freedom, health or money.
The cost of corruption can be divided into four main categories: political, economic, social and environmental.
On the political front, corruption is a major obstacle to democracy and the rule of law. In a democratic system, offices and institutions lose their legitimacy when they’re misused for private advantage. This is harmful in established democracies, but even more so in newly emerging ones. It is extremely challenging to develop accountable political leadership in a corrupt climate.
Economically, corruption depletes national wealth. Corrupt politicians invest scarce public resources in projects that will line their pockets rather than benefit communities, and prioritise high-profile projects such as dams, power plants, pipelines and refineries over less spectacular but more urgent infrastructural projects such as schools, hospitals and roads.
Corruption also hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition, which in turn deters investment.
Corruption corrodes the social fabric of society. It undermines people’s trust in the political system, in its institutions and its leadership. A distrustful or apathetic public can become yet another hurdle to challenge corruption.
Environment degradation is another consequence of corrupt systems. The lack of, or non-enforcement of, environmental regulations and legislation means that precious natural resources are carelessly exploited, and entire ecological systems are ravaged. From mining to logging, to carbon effects, companies act as the globe continues to pay bribes in return of unrestricted destruction.
One final important question: what do you do to fight corruption?
Transparency International’s three guiding principles are: build partnerships, proceed step-by-step, and stay non-confrontational.
“We have learned from experience that corruption can only be kept in check if representatives from government, business and civil society work together to develop standards and procedures they all support. We know that corruption can’t be rooted out in one big sweep. Rather, fighting it is a step-by-step, project-by-project process,” TI says.
Having read these replies by this world authority on anti-corruption, and having ticked off where it was applicable to our country’s actual situation, would you be joining the proposed national coalition to fight this political, economic and social national malaise?
I had the opportunity to hear Archbishop Charles Scicluna delivering his timely homily on Independence Day.
From the important exhortation to us politicians I choose the following passage to conclude: “Transparency and accountability are the values that will make us Maltese truly and rightly proud of our government.”
It is incumbent on us all to uphold and defend these noble values.