I watched the Keith Schembri debate in Parliament from start to finish.

What struck me most was that not one speaker on the government side told us mortals why it was OK for Keith and co. to have companies all over the world and bank accounts into which he had to pour $1 million a year but it was not OK for the wife of an Inland Revenue Department employee to have one company. In fact, her husband was suspended. Why?

If what Schembri did was deemed good, why was not the same measure applied to the IR employee’s wife? I suppose we can attribute this to one of the defects of democracy.

In my view, the vote on the debate mentioned above opens the door to anyone who wants to set up a secret company say in Panama, Cyprus, the Virgin Islands, Gibraltar or wherever. All s/he has to do is mention the result of the vote to justify his/her decision.

I do not know whether Finance Minister Edward Scicluna was in Parliament, but I suppose he has now to reinstate the suspended employee immediately on the strength of the approval of Schembri’s overseas doings.