In his first three years in office, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat sacked two Cabinet members and demoted another. But has his moral authority been weakened following his handling of the Panama scandal, asks Keith Micallef.

In January last year, Planning Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon lost his job in the wake of the Gaffarena scandal involving the expropriation of a Valletta palazzo for €3.4 million worth of cash and property.

The decision hinged on a National Audit Office report which established that there had been “collusion” between the Land Department, which fell under the responsibility of Dr Falzon, and businessman Mark Gaffarena.

Back then, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had described the resignation as a testament to his boldness in taking the right decisions, regardless of the political backlash he might face.

Indeed, prior to Dr Falzon’s departure, the Prime Minister had already sacked Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia after less than two years in office, over the minister’s handling of a shooting incident involving his driver.

And eight months before that, Godfrey Farrugia, who until then was the minister for health, was demoted by the Prime Minister following a series of public gaffes.

That was then. Dr Muscat is now being accused by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil of having lost his moral authority to discipline members of government – namely Education Minister Evarist Bartolo.

The minister is still in place despite the charge that he failed to act promptly when faced with allegations of corruption involving his canvasser, his person of trust within the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools.

The PN leader’s argument stems from the Prime Minister’s handling of the Panama Papers scandal, which exposed the existence of secret companies belonging to the then energy minister Konrad Mizzi and Dr Muscat’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri.

In spite of the evidence, Mr Schembri emerged unscathed and Mr Mizzi came away nearly untouched, retaining a ministerial position within the Office of the Prime Minister in which he is still in charge of energy projects.

Those decisions at the time prompted fierce criticism from the Opposition, which accused the Prime Minister of setting a dangerous precedent by adopting a two-weights-and-two-measures approach.

Malta’s electoral system is a major stumbling block in fighting corruption because it empowers canvassers to hold politicians to ransom

Has that criticism now been borne out in the Bartolo case? Is the Opposition’s claim of diminished moral authority justified?

Former minister Michael Falzon believes the argument does hold water but only to a certain extent, saying Mr Bartolo’s case was not as serious as the Panama Papers scandal.

While conceding that the Education Minister had made a “tactical” error by adopting a wait-and-see approach, that shortcoming alone was not enough to justify his resignation, he said.

He also warned, though, that the sacking of Mr Bartolo from Cabinet could open a can of worms in the wake of the minister’s divergent views to the Prime Minister’s on the Panama affair – at the time Mr Bartolo had backed calls for Mr Mizzi’s resignation.

“If the Prime Minister were to sack Mr Bartolo it could be interpreted as a tit-for-tat move which in turn would fuel internal dissent within the party,” Mr Falzon said.

Political commentator and Alternattiva Demokratika councillor Michael Briguglio has a more critical view.

“The Prime Minister’s lack of action on the Panama Papers confirms his position vis-a-vis dominant networks of power within the government,” he remarked.

“The fact that action was taken against other elements within Labour involved in bad governance shows that there are unequal relations of power within the party and government.”

Dr Briguglio described the Prime Minister’s approach as that of someone trying to keep everything in place by normalising this style of governance and by “seducing” the public through a share of the pie.

“Whether or when this will implode has to be seen,” he said.

However, he does not believe ministers should be held politically responsible if they take immediate action to flag the case.

On the other hand, Labour councillor Desmond Zammit Marmara insisted that even on the Panama Papers scandal, the Prime Minister did take action and would not hesitate to do so in the future.

“The only  person  taking  a  step  backwards  is the  Opposition leader who is surrounded by the likes of  Beppe  Fenech  Adami,  Tonio  Fenech,  Toni  Bezzina,  Jason  Azzopardi and  Claudio  Grech  among others, against whom serious allegations have been made,” he said.

Mr Zammit Marmara noted that the Education Minister had reported the  matter  to  the  police  as  soon  as  he  had  “prima facie” evidence  of  wrongdoing.

“He  didn’t  tell  anyone:  “Għalfejn  bqajt  għaddej  bix-xogħlijiet  meta  kont  taf  li  se  nitilfu  l-elezzjoni?”  [why  did  you  proceed  with  works  when  you  knew  that  we  were  going  to  lose  the  election?”]  as  Dr  Busuttil  did  in  the  works  for  votes scandal  in  Gozo,” he said.

A retired politician, who preferred to remain anonymous, looked at the bigger picture: he argued that Malta’s electoral system is a major stumbling block in fighting corruption because it empowers canvassers to hold politicians to ransom.

“Unfortunately, MPs or Cabinet members dread any clashes with them as more often than not they will turn against them by joining forces with another candidate contesting the same district on the same party ticket.

“In doing so they would have a good chance of denting the election prospects of their former political master,” he observed.

Pre-Panama

Godfrey Farrugia
Demoted from his Cabinet post as health minister following a series of public gaffes, most famously the setting up of a tent outside the Mater Dei Hospital Emergency Department.

Manuel Mallia
Sacked as home affairs minister for failing to immediately disclose details to the media of a shooting incident involving his driver.

Michael Falzon
Forced to resign as Planning Parliamentary Secretary due to collusion between the Land Department, which fell under his portfolio, and businessman Mark Gaffarena over the expropriation of a Valletta palazzo.

Post-Panama

Konrad Mizzi
Retained in Cabinet in charge of energy projects despite being caught with a secret Panama company.

Keith Schembri
No action against the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, even though he was also caught with a secret Panama company.

Evarist Bartolo
Facing accusations of dragging his feet in reporting bribery allegations involving his most trusted canvasser, whom he had appointed in a position of trust within the Foundation of Tomorrow Schools. No sign of stepping aside, even if only to clear his name.

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