These are not normal times. Only this week, the President of Malta summoned the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, following calls by the latter for her Excellency to take a moral stand on the current constitutional crisis.

For a constitutional crisis it is. Our institutions, meant to protect us citizens, are shrouded in dark clouds – their reputation in tatters. The police force is in disarray. The Malta Financial Services Authority is at the receiving end of criticism for its apparent lax permits given to financial operators with shady connections to dirty money.

Last Sunday, The Sunday Times of Malta called for the Prime Minister to step aside and for an acting Prime Minister to be appointed in his stead, until the inquiry, which is investigating his wife’s alleged secret company in Panama, is concluded. I can’t recall the last time Malta’s leading newspaper called for a Maltese Prime Minister to step aside.

Unsurprisingly, Joseph Muscat stuck, firmly, to his seat and won’t budge. He denies serious allegations made by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and instituted libel proceedings against the journalist who uncovered Malta’s links to the Panama Papers scandal.

Muscat is furious that his wife is being linked to a secret company and the alleged transfer of large amounts of money from the daughter of the Azerbaijani President to his wife’s bank account. Rich. His closest acquaintances, Minister Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri, his chief of staff, both have secret offshore companies in Panama. They kept their place with the Prime Minister’s blessings. He was not so livid then. So did Brian Tonna, of Nexia BT, the man who set up their secret offshore companies – he got to keep his desk at the Prime Minister’s office.

Reputation is a priceless asset. Tarnish that, and we’re doomed

What we witnessed last week was shocking. Caruana Galizia’s story goes into great detail – location of safe(s) at the Pilatus Bank offices in Ta’ Xbiex, location of documents allegedly showing Michelle Muscat’s ownership of Egrant Inc., bank account transfers, and details of Pilatus Bank clients, mostly Azerbaijani PEPs.

And then, the surreal, albeit shocking footage of the Pilatus Bank chairman, accompanied by his risk officer, walking out of the bank, holding two bags, shortly after Caruana Galizia went to town with her story.

There was no one to stop him. No police officers in sight. The Police Commissioner went dining with friends at an Mġarr restaurant after the story broke and Malta was glued to watching the story unfold on live television. It wasn’t before midnight that the Prime Minister announced that he had placed himself, and his wife, under a magisterial inquiry.

The next morning, no less than 15 hours after the Pilatus Bank chairman and his bags walked out of his bank, the Police Commissioner ordered his men and women to ‘raid’ the bank’s premises at Whitehall Mansions. Security operations are occasionally nicknamed; this one qualifies for ‘Operation Farce’.

That the Police Commissioner is unfit for purpose is a given. Not only did he fail to investigate Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri despite an FIAU report on the matter, but on the night that the mother-of-all-scandals was unleashed, his priority was dining out with friends. No wonder that the UĦM Voice of the Workers, as did several leading commentators, call for his resignation.

Aside from being a sitting MP, I am an auditor by profession. My profession brings me in direct contact with financial services operators, employers and employees. Reputation is a priceless asset in this field. Tarnish that, and we’re doomed. Jobs will be lost, investors will look elsewhere.

At the heart of the Panama Papers scandal is the devastating effect this is having on Malta’s financial services industry. This scandal has been dragging on for over a year and has now come to a head with grave allegations linking the Prime Minister’s spouse to secret offshore companies and transfers of large amounts of money to her bank account.

For the first time in recent history, we have a Prime Minister as the subject of a magisterial inquiry. The Prime Minister refuses to go. Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia continues to upload serious allegations with the Prime Minister, his spouse, Schembri and Mizzi as their main protagonists.

The country is at a standstill. Malta is in the international press for the wrong reasons. Anytime soon, and the Prime Minister will have to go to the country. Now is the time to stand together and put an end to this rot.

antoine@antoineborg.com

Antoine Borg is the Opposition spokesman for tourism and an auditor by profession.