Within weeks of the last election, it became  apparent that there was  something seriously wrong with the manner in which the country was being governed. Things deteriorated rapidly. However, no matter how much one knows and suspects about a state of affairs, when faced with the revelations emerging, we still all get that sickening feeling in the gut – a sentiment felt by normal law-abiding citizens in this country right across the political spectrum.

The bottom line is that Malta is being run like a Third World dictatorship. Even people who stood shoulder to shoulder with Muscat before the last election, like Marlene Farrugia, could not bear to be part of the Prime Minister’s warped plan and hypocrisy any longer. Godfrey Farrugia’s letter of resignation as Labour Party whip yesterday speaks volumes.

The nation has now understood that it is unacceptable for the Prime Minister of an EU Member State to encourage the institutionalisation of corruption, to drag the country down to unprecedented levels of humiliation and indignity, to hijack what need to be independent watchdogs of the country.

When Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri were exposed in the Panama Papers about having formed secret companies in Panama days after taking office, the Nationalist Party, the independent press, constituted bodies, representatives of other parties and objective commentators generally implored the Prime Minister to take the obvious action and kick them right out. We demanded that damage limi­tation action be taken immediately to safeguard Malta’s reputation. Instead, Joseph Muscat failed to take the necessary action in the national interest.

As time went by, it became painfully obvious that not everyone is equal before the law. A state of lawlessness started to prevail, evidenced by the resignation of Police Commissioner Michael Cassar after the presentation to the police of the as-yet-unpublished Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit report, which recommended the investigation of Mizzi and Schembri. Nothing happened. Shortly afterwards, the head of the FIAU resigned and Malta’s reputation sank deeper and deeper into the quagmire.

Last week, Daphne Caruana Galizia’s publication of extracts showing Michelle Muscat as the beneficial owner of Egrant, NET’s footage of the owner of Pilatus Bank looking as guilty as hell hiking around Ta’ Xbiex in the dead of night carrying two suitcases, the inaction of the Commissioner of Police and then his tardy reaction only after direct instruction from the Prime Minister and the evidence presented by the Leader of the Opposition on the Prime Minister’s chief of staff receiving kickbacks from passport sales say it all.

As time went by, it became painfully obvious that not everyone is equal before the law

The Prime Minister’s pretence that this appalling mode of governance is perfectly normal is nothing short of a major act of aggression on the moral fibre of the nation. Even Ana Gomes, vice chairman of the PANA committee, is clearly shaken and probably very embarrassed at the antics of a fellow socialist, the Prime Minister of Malta, which holds the presidency of the EU Council. It is also worth remembering that one of the items on this presidency’s ‘to do’ list was to tackle  money laundering. How ironic!

The independent press, the Malta Employers’ Association, the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners, the Voice of the Workers (UĦM), the Institute of Accountants, the Chamber of Commerce and other professionals have spoken out loud, telling Muscat that enough is enough.

The Prime Minister’s wife, the Prime Minister and his chief of staff react to this by telling us that they are so “serene”. The entire population, Prime Minister, is not serene at all. In fact, we are worried sick about the seriously damaging predicament you have singlehandedly put our country in.

We have worked like dogs over the years, so that together, and irrespective of party politics, we could develop service sectors in Malta that are second to none. We are in competition with centres of excellence and have convinced quality inves­tors to use Malta rather than other established jurisdictions. These entrepreneurs, who employ thousands of people both directly and indirectly, came to this country because of what they thought would be a stable political climate in a civilised European country, because we had high standards serviced by first-class professionals where the rule of law prevailed. They were not prepared for a country ruled and hijacked by a corrupt clique above the law.

Decent people do not want to operate in such an environment, and unless we sort ourselves out, they will simply pack their bags and set up elsewhere. It is as simple as that.

The vast majority of the Maltese popu­lation is disgusted with these corrupt goings-on and yearn for the return to normality and the days when we can be proud of our Prime Minister and our country. That will happen when we elect the man who has the vision to lead this country out of the mess it is in, who leads by example, who leads a party which created the very economic sectors that are thriving today and which provide quality employment and wealth, whose honesty and sense of right and wrong are unparalleled and who has a tremendous social conscience.

A man who will act for the good of the entire nation, who will take no nonsense from anyone. A born statesman. That man is Simon Busuttil.

Ann Fenech is president of the Executive Committee of the Nationalist Party.

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