The eyes of global society are on the FIFA 2010 World Cup. At times, we look but we do not see. We do not see the millions of dollars that are being betted game after game and what goes on behind the scenes. FIFA is aware of the threat that match-fixing by the betting mafia poses to the integrity of football. FIFA monitors global betting patterns through its subsidiary, Early Warning Systems, relying on data provided by over 400 bookmakers. In South Africa, it even set up a confidential hotline for players and referees to report bribe attempts.
Nowadays, everyone and everything seem to have a price. Recently, British newspapers carried stories about how a meeting with a prince, who is also a UK trade envoy, can cost up to £500,000. Corruption is omnipresent. We have come to accept it as part of our life, a cultural trait. Little do we realise that our indifference is the biggest accomplice to corruption. Adopting a reactive, defeatist, almost apologetic, attitude is no way to fight corruption.
In the effort to raise public awareness about the importance of combating corruption, the United Nations has even designated an International Anti-Corruption Day (December 9).
Corruption is unfair and immoral. It not only entails costs which have to be borne by us taxpayers but, perhaps more importantly, it demoralises citizens and corrodes the very fabric of society. It scares serious investors away. Corruption distorts the political process by emphasising patron-client relationships rather than policy-focused political competition. It rewards the undeserving few at the expense of the many.
Corruption is not just about taking bribes; it includes nepotism, tax evasion, benefiting from unjustified social services and electoral fraud.
Corruption has become the Achilles' heel of Maltese society. Mater Dei Hospital, the Malta Transport Authority, the Malta Maritime Authority, VAT, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the Delimara power station, the police, the judiciary and the prison authorities... the list is endless. Eurobarometer reports that 95per cent of Maltese believe that corruption has become a major problem in our country. In 2009, Transparency International placed our country 45th out of 180 countries, a fall of 20 places in just four years. Finding it difficult to prove corruption does not mean that it does not exist. Dismissing corruption as purely a matter of perception is to be in denial.
How effective is Malta in fighting corruption? What sort of message is being given to the Maltese when our leaders make statements of the sort: "I am sure that there is no wrongdoing... even if I am not fully informed about the matter"? Or when multi-million-euro projects drop from the skies? Corruption breeds in murkiness and lack of transparency. The government has a duty not only to do the right things but to be seen to be doing things right.
How come it is only private citizens or the opposition which seem willing to report cases of corruption? What sort of regulatory and oversight mechanisms exist to ensure good governance? Can the government really say that it is doing its utmost to contain this disease? Is the Prime Minister happy just to refer matters to the Commissioner of Police for investigation?
Talk about upholding values is no longer enough. Our leaders are in duty bound to send a very clear message: corruption will not be tolerated and whoever is caught abusing will have to pay up. This perhaps was the message the Prime Minister sought to send when he took office and obliged one of his ministers to resign. Investigations proved no wrongdoing and the rest is history. It must have been a very painful experience for all involved, not least for the Prime Minister himself. Indeed, our leaders need to tread carefully, but this is no justification for inaction.
Fighting corruption should not be a political game. Politicians from all sides should be united in their commitment to containing corruption. Parliament should transmit a strong sense of unity and moral authority on this issue. Our country requires to formulate a national integrity programme that sensitises and mobilises our society while ensuring that we have all the necessary preventive and enforcement mechanisms in place. National institutional watchdogs entrusted with regulation and supervision should be strengthened and not undermined by political expediency, as happened recently with the Ombudsman, the Auditor General and Mepa's auditor.
Power in our country is becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few people and enterprises. Nick Clegg has "joked" about Malta having the most centralised government in Europe. The solution is not just more decentralisation but a changed way of doing things. We need to give government back to civil society and the people. This is what democracy is all about.
Transparency International's slogan states that Corruption Ruins Lives. Fight Back. It is really up to you and me. We have been promised that together we can achieve a lot of things. Can we at least agree to fight corruption together? The Labour Party has launched its anti-corruption agenda. Will the Nationalist Party make the next move? Or would it rather continue to play the ostrich? Much more than the credibility of our political leaders is at stake.
fms18@onvol.net