I see that Austin Gatt has assumed the role of slighted martyr and is feeling hard done by the press. Journalists aren’t hounding Gatt over some trivial matter or invading his privacy by taking paparazzi shots of him lounging in the sun in his shorts.

They’re doing their job and trying to delve deeper into the Enemalta fuel procurement mess.

That’s a multi-million euro mess we’re talking about, where decisions as to who got juicy fuel tenders being taken by a committee, which seems to have met sporadically and where meetings were minuted with the same degree of enthusiasm and accuracy as students taking down notes during a double Physics lesson in the last week of June.

All this happened under Gatt’s watch when he was the minister responsible for Enemalta.

The chairmen were appointed by him and he was answerable for its performance. If Enemalta’s showing had been good, we would have praised Gatt and his appointees.

But if the corporation’s showing and its procurement practices were questionable, then respon-sibility for that lands on Gatt’s plate. That’s because any party which takes credit for the rain must not be surprised if its opponents blame it for the drought.

Now, in the wake of a scathing report by the National Audit Office about Enemalta’s procure-ment policy and practices (or the lack of them), the press want answers. Mostly, they want to know how such a situation could have come to pass. You know – how there seems to have been little or no overseeing of Enemalta’s practices when these affected so many people.

“As the minister responsible for Enemalta at the time, how did you ensure that the people appointed to lead the corporation were suitable for the post? Were you satisfied with their performance? What safeguards were in place to ensure that bids were judged transparently? Were you aware that these bids had become the ‘chairman’s territory’? What measures did you put in place to prevent this happening?” These are the kind of questions the media would like Gatt to answer.

Failure to condemn past mistakes is taken to mean endorsement of them

Having retired from the political scene, leaving the current PN administration to pick up the pieces, Gatt has now adopted the Kate Moss code – ‘Never complain, never explain’.

The former minister, who has launched 1,000 press confer-ences, now says he refuses to be part of the media circus any more. Then – with the air of a long-suffering victim of the press – Gatt writes: “I have decided to take comments and criticism in stoic silence.”

And he adds that he has no obligation, ethical, political or otherwise to talk to the media. He is right in that he has no legal obligation to talk to the media; however, there is a moral obligation to give an explanation – the public deserves to know how the national institutions are led and managed.

Apart from this, Gatt’s reticence to open up on his days as minister will also affect the Nationalist Party. Yes – he’s no longer a serving MP or even part of the PN executive, but he is still strongly associated with the party.

A “no comment” from Simon Busuttil and others in the PN leadership about Gatt’s stewardship of the Enemalta portfolio will be considered as an endorsement of Gatt and his actions in this sphere.

The PN, led by Busuttil, will continue to be associated with Gatt and the Enemalta scandal for years to come. The Leader of the Opposition says that the party has already paid the price for this – by losing the last election.

But the negative impact of the PN-Gatt-Enemalta association will continue, unless the party distances itself publicly from the former minister.

It may seem unfair – as the current PN administration may have had little direct involvement in the Enemalta affair, but that’s the way it goes. Failure to condemn past mistakes is taken to mean endorsement of them. It’s not as if the PN has no experience of this.

Until Joseph Muscat apologised for past Labour wrongs, he was accused of approving of them. Every act of 1980s thuggery, lack of Mars bars and grainy toothpaste was laid down at his door, despite the fact that he was just under 10 at the time.

As it is, the PN should not be surprised if they have to deal with the Enemalta fallout for many years to come. The party has been left carrying the can on its own here as Gatt rides off into the peaceful sunset of retirement.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt