The Labour government needs to stop trying to play political games and not manufacture any further delays to the process in Parliament to impeach Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco.
The government has tried move after move in an attempt to stem the tide and delay the inevitable for as long as possible.
It is damaging to the judiciary, to the political class and to people’s confidence in one of the pillars of our democracy.
As on many other issues, the Labour government speaks in tongues and attempts to pull the wool over the eyes of the people it represents. The Prime Minister has shiftily made some very carefully worded statements while avoiding taking a stand on the actual issue at hand.
In contrast, the Nationalist Party has been absolutely clear and has appealed to the government not to create further obstacles for Parliament to immediately decide on the removal of the judge. It has already been dragged out for too long.
Now the Commission for the Administration of Justice has written to the Speaker of the House saying that the decision it had taken on the case a year ago still applies to the impeachment motion presented last week.
Despite his efforts, the ball is firmly in the Prime Minister’s court once again. Will he heed the advice of the Commission, as he has promised, or will he continue to drag it out even longer?
The longer things are dragged painfully out, the more he will force the country to pay the price
Joseph Muscat should have learnt his lesson with his abysmal handling of his cash-for-citizenship debacle. No amount of flip-flopping, shouting at Labour Party rallies or sabre-rattling will change the fact that he simply cannot fool all the people all the time.
The longer things are dragged painfully out, the more he will force the country to pay the price.
The first EU Anti-Corruption Report published recently showed that a staggering 83 per cent of Maltese and Gozitans believe that corruption in Malta is widespread.
Significantly, they pinpointed shortcomings in the form of a lack of transparency in judicial appointments as one of the main causes of concern.
No one is above the law, especially those whose duty it is to uphold the very highest standards of office.
The first 11 months of a Labour government have damaged the public’s view of the country’s main institutions.
This is not surprising. After the upheaval with the police force, the armed forces, the permanent secretaries and the various regulatory bodies; the ridiculous trial in Parliament to which they have subjected the Leader of the Opposition; the citizenship saga and a billboard-inspired job-creation strategy, it comes as no shock that people are now questioning the Prime Minister’s latest motives behind the delaying tactics in the impeachment process.
It is time for the Labour Party to come clean and let us all know what is actually behind this latest move. Is it yet another case of pre-election double-speak coming back to haunt them?
It is more than just political games. There is an entire list of decisions taken in the past 11 months that have significantly damaged the perception of the rule of law in this country.
If public perception suffers, so will investor confidence and the climate for business and employment, so carefully nurtured under past Nationalist administrations, will eventually bear the brunt.
No decision can ever be taken in isolation, whether it is selling passports, belittling our armed forces, or the latest attempt at trying to circumvent this impeachment process. If the Prime Minister continues to insist on creating a toxic environment across the board, the effects will be felt across the economy.
It is time for Joseph Muscat to decide. It is time to stop delaying the inevitable and dragging Malta’s reputation down any further.
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Roberta Metsola is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament