I have come to the conclusion that no serious, honest and law-abiding citizen can possibly contemplate voting for the Labour Party in the next general election. We have not only witnessed an unprecedented level of corruption, total abandonment of any shred of integrity and decline of standards by the ruling regime, but worse, we also see the Prime Minister condone the systematic destruction of the legitimate expectation of the people that Ministers of State should behave like Ministers of State.
Regrettably, certain ministers have come across either as money-grabbing desperados or people with the most amoral, unbecoming and shameful behaviour. And if they do not fall into either one of these two categories, they act like spineless individuals who do not have the courage to publically condemn and disassociate themselves from the depraved and objectionable behaviour of their colleagues or their colleagues’ ‘persons of trust’.
This is cutting into the moral fibre of our society. This makes each and every member on the government benches, for either one of these three reasons, responsible and liable for this appalling descent in such a short period of time.
All of this comes with a tremendous reputational risk for the country. When the Maltese Prime Minister is seen to be condoning behaviour exhibited by members of his Cabinet and their persons of trust, earning his government the reputation of being the most corrupt since Independence, Malta inevitably falls 10 places in the Transparency International Index, next to Rwanda.
The humiliation is painful. If it’s not a Minister of State and the Prime Minister’s right-hand man opening secret companies in Panama within less than a week of being elected, it’s the failure to publish the most important public contracts involving millions. If it’s not persons of trust in the employ of the Minister of Education hand-delivering cheques to contractors, it’s another minister arranging for his wife to receive close to half a million euros for nothing.
This regime is effectively destroying the reputation of our country so meticulously and painstakingly rebuilt since 1987
If it’s not another Minister of State allegedly caught red-handed in a brothel while on government business, it’s the failure of the authorities to publish the report by the chair of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit. If it’s not the police force having four commissioners of police resigning in nearly four years, it’s Café Premier receiving €4 million as a present to vacate government property after failing to pay the rent; or it’s the appointment of a person who holds a criminal record for revenge porn as one of our nation’s representatives at the EU.
The situation is indeed grave and worrying. Ultimately this is not only a reflection on the individuals concerned but on us as an entire nation, as we come across as happy to tolerate the disintegration and collapse of civil behaviour caused by the governing regime. That is the problem.
This regime is effectively destroying the reputation of our country, which was so meticulously and painstakingly rebuilt since 1987. Service providers, be they Nationalist or Labour sympathisers, have worked very hard to build entire new sectors of the economy by establishing systems and standards – which are now being shattered.
The collapse of these standards is palpable. The country simply cannot afford to go on like this for much longer if it is to continue being taken seriously. Our reputation is currently under serious threat and Malta’s dependence on foreign investment in so many aspects of its economy cannot afford this because no serious foreign investor is going to feel comfortable doing business in a country run with an anything-goes mentality.
This is not pro-business. This is suicidal.
It seems clear that the government has absolutely no intention of changing its ways. For those who thought the first scandals within a few days of election, starting with the Prime Minister renting his own car to himself, was the stuff of the green, inexperienced politician, the scandals just increased in number and in gravity, and every other day the nation wakes up to another howler.
While the government sinks ever deeper, the Opposition has risen from the ashes. It has actually shown the government how it should govern and what real statesmanship is all about.
Apart from rebuilding the party from scratch, Simon Busuttil has produced groundbreaking policies, enabling the Nationalist Party to hit the ground running the minute it is re-elected on issues which are fundamental to this country. These include the economy, with concrete incentives for the self-employed; specific plans for Gozo and the environment, and above all, the restoration of a serious, proper and correct method of governance – the type of governance all Maltese can be proud of rather than ashamed of.
Having Busuttil as Prime Minister is our guarantee of a return of normality.
Ann Fenech is president of the executive committee of the Nationalist Party.