It may be that the Prime Minister was at a loss as to what to say that day the President of the European Parliament was in Malta. Joseph Muscat said he welcomed the European Parliament committee probing the Panama Papers and that the government had nothing to hide. Somehow it didn’t sound right.

When questioned in October whether Minister without Portfolio Konrad Mizzi would appear before the PANA committee, Dr Muscat had said the decision would be based on a number of factors, including the position taken by other countries and the make-up of the committee. Now, the committee is suddenly welcome in Malta.

Dr Muscat says the government has nothing to hide on the matter involving Dr Mizzi and his chief of staff Keith Schembri, who were discovered to have opened secret offshore companies in Panama. Getting any information from the government has been a gruelling experience since the scandal broke and it has only gotten hazier and more complicated. If the government has truly nothing to hide, then there is a growing list of questions waiting to be answered.

When Dr Mizzi was recently asked to provide more details about his Panama operations, which his financial advisors said would receive profits from the “recycling” and “remote gaming” sectors, he had replied that the questions were “completely misleading”. He went on to say that he had already provided all the answers and that he was the first Maltese politician to submit himself to a tax audit with “everything laid bare”.

Which raises the next question: which company is auditing Dr Mizzi’s affairs and why is it taking so long? Asked about the audit firm in court, Dr Mizzi referred the question to the Prime Minister. When the question was relayed to Dr Muscat he would not tell. Maybe Dr Muscat would tell the PANA committee. Maybe he could even tell them the name of the owner of a third company that was opened together with those of Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri: Egrant.

Another question the committee may ask is: who is the energy minister now? Yes, following the Cabinet ‘reshuffle’ that came in the wake of the Panama Papers, the Prime Minister took over the energy portfolio from Dr Mizzi but still kept the latter in charge.

This created confusion when Dr Mizzi was in Brussels, or when he stood up to speak in Parliament only to watch the Opposition MPs walk out because they do not recognise his legitimacy.

The audit unfinished and the police not interested in investigating the Prime Minister’s closest aides, this country is hardly any wiser since the scandal broke. Meanwhile, last week Dr Mizzi was again in Brussels to address a conference on energy.

It is useless at this point to argue that Dr Mizzi should have resigned, as was even suggested by colleagues. It is equally useless to ask the Prime Minister to finally act on the matter, remove Dr Mizzi and close the case.

Something holds him back.

His inaction, voluntary or not, has effectively undermined his position on the Cabinet making him unable to move against any of his ministers, as he could have done when corruption allegations arose concerning the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools for which Education Minister Evarist Bartolo is responsible.

Dr Muscat has made a mockery of the very serious matter called the Panama Papers. He expected it to pass and chose to take people for a ride with audits that don’t get completed and a Cabinet reshuffle that was not. Meanwhile, the long shadow of the Panama Papers lingers on.

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