As Ambassador of Malta to the EU during the 1990s, I was among those in Maltese diplomatic missions across the world who, together with our political leadership at home and their clear-sighted plan for joining the EU and Nato, managed to persuade the negative voices that Malta had turned a page in its turbulent history.
We had been marked by the violence of the 1956 period and of the 1970s and 1980s, by the breakdown of law and order, fear among law-abiding people, attacks on judges and the rape of the institutions like the police and army.
The hope was that we had learnt from these experiences and that the institutions were being recreated with the powers and independence required for the rule of law to exist, for people to be afraid no longer and freedom of expression to be sanctified.
The EU promise was granted to us in a memorable European Council Summit meeting in Corfu. Malta could now begin to hope for a decent and normal future, just like our law-abiding neighbours.
It was a day to remember and to be proud of. Then I did not feel ashamed to be Maltese.
The vote against EU membership in the 1996 election should have been a warning sign, but Malta continued on the path towards peace of mind, with EU membership coming in 2004.
What has happened since? Who is to blame for Malta’s decline to the lowest level of the application of justice? How has Malta attracted so many criminals, to expose the criminal energy of every Maltese person? Is this a latent defect in our genes, a result of our education system or an inferiority complex?
Whatever it is, we have gone into a negative spiral, from the dreams and hopes of having put the 1970s and 1980s behind us for good to the gradual setting up of legal systems and programmes that enabled corporations, individuals, criminal organisations and dictators from around the world to bring over their properly earned capital or dirty money and hide it here, away from the eyes of their citizens, tax authorities, police forces and competitors.
The flow of money towards our shores ignited the criminal energy in us all, and we flocked to make a buck on these capital flows.
The first guilty ones were the government authorities of the 1990s and early 2000s, who set up what was intrinsically well-intentioned markets for financial services, mass tourism and internet services. I say they are guilty without having bad intent because the systems set up were not anchored in transparent and regulations.
The second guilty party came from our bright accountants and lawyers, real estate merchants, hoteliers and developers who smelt the opportunities, often after having received requests from foreign potential investors who had already carried out similar schemes in other jurisdictions but gladly found a new jurisdiction still small in volume but hungry to take market share in this lucrative market.
By suggesting changes to the regime, introducing new areas open for money laundering – big yachts, aeroplanes, gaming and gambling – the lawyer/accountant profession made huge profits but also softened the regimes and opened them up to bigger criminal syndicates and to undemocratic dictators looking for places to hide away their money, starting with Gaddafi.
The third guilty party is the present government, which carried on with the systems set up by its predecessors. It lacked, however, the good intent, leading to the breakdown of institutional control over the systems of investment and a more prominent system of patronage whereby permits, controls and baksheesh were made easy and common practice. The selling of passports and of our energy sector, and now the promise to bring over the money laundering tool of the century - bitcoin and digital money - take the cake.
The word spread around the underworld like wildfire, and construction took off. The owner of any premises, however small, was attracted to the potential of renting or selling to both bona fide and money-laundering investors. Hence the raising of height limitations and the castration of Mepa. The slide of the last five years has been by intent, not default.
Money flowed, and the influx of workers, pickpockets, burglars and smugglers from the unsavoury corners of Europe began. This influx powered the restaurant and hotel industry, smelling the value of new workers who accepted lower wages and worked longer hours.
We have all been living off the earnings of crime, smuggling and tax evasion and we know it
We were all sucked into the whirlpool of the money flows hidden behind the veils of nominees and letter-box companies. Any vestige of control vanished when members of the FIAU resigned one after the other. Daphne had been telling us that this was happening but people did not care.
Her disclosures uncovered the Maltese psyche: so long as I can make money I will not rock the boat.
Let us not mention our total lack of traffic etiquette, discipline or respect. We have one of the highest death rates on the road across Europe when compared to cities or areas comparable in size to Malta. Our roads are a mess and traffic flows a shame.
One can go on. We try to cheat whenever we can. Police, traffic wardens, building, health and safety inspectors, financial services watchdogs, lawyers, accountants and politicians from the very top down are an absolute insult to our nation.
How could this happen?
I have no answer, only despair.
Is there a way out?
Maybe.
We need a root and branch overhaul of our institutions, economy, justice system, education and infrastructure. The Rule of Law must be brought to bear again. It must be exercised by fearless people of integrity who have no conflicts of interest, who have a proper pay and guaranteed independence. People who caused or failed to stop the rot must be charged for their faults, pay fines or be put in prison.
Only if we do this can we be readmitted to the community of nations and the budding future of the EU; led by the impulse of Brexit and the rising of Macron.
I hope we can be in time to restore our Christian values with a robust legal system. This will mean a slowing down of our economy initially, until we can attract open, transparent, real manufacturing, services and tourism, which pay higher and higher salaries, provide longer holidays and lower working time. This would re-attract Maltese youth to the work market to replace the wage-cutting imported labour. Maltese workers can be trained to be more productive and earn higher wages, which would allow a wage earner to provide for his or her family without having to serve the pseudo rental market or have a second job at sweatshop rates.
Good, real and legal financial services can be attracted to Malta and strictly controlled, as had been done in the early years of the start-up period of our financial services sector. New sectors like education and healthcare services can be controlled and taxed accordingly, slowly bringing entrepreneurs, workers and financers back from the brink of illegality where we all find ourselves.
It is only then that I would stop being ashamed to call myself Maltese, and then and only then will Daphne’s death be avenged. We have all been living off the earnings of crime, smuggling and tax evasion, and we know it. We have blood on our hands and it is up to us to make the amends necessary to redeem ourselves in her eyes.
As she watches us from her heaven let us not let her down.
(This concludes a two-part article started last week).