The Prime Minister’s decision to suddenly cut his term short by 15 months took many by surprise. Prior to the 2013 elections, the Malta Labour Party, using the slogan Malta Tagħna Lkoll, presented the electorate with a well-written, slick manifesto. It seemed to tick most of the right boxes and felt like a welcome breath of fresh air for those who thought the previous administration had overstayed.
The manifesto was generally based on sound principles of transparency and meritocracy. It promised no corruption would not tolerated. Joseph Muscat pledged to raise the bar to a level never before experienced in the country. He said he wished to be judged on his own merits and not be compared to previous administrations. He was proposing a political and social “revolution”.
The proposals were so well received that the PL was elected to government with a thumping majority of 36,000 votes.
However, soon after, many of those who had placed their faith in PL (at least those without an agenda of a ‘reward’ of some form) realised that the road was not going to be as rosy as the manifesto had said. Muscat squandered his chance to revolutionise Maltese politics. Here are a few examples where the government could have done much better. The first disappointment was the bailout of Café Premier. As a businessman, I couldn’t fathom how the Prime Minister justified using over €4 million of taxpayer money to bail out a private bankrupt commercial operation. Not to be outdone, this was soon followed by the Gaffarena property barter deal that I also found difficult to understand.
We then experienced the granting of a large tract of ODZ land in Żonqor Point to a foreign investor who parachuted into Malta claiming he was setting up an ‘American University’.
This is nowhere near the good governance that was promised. It constitutes behaviour that damages the country’s moral fibre and causes untold harm
PL’s pro-business policies, some praiseworthy, did not come without a high environmental cost. New building policies will result in Malta’s skyline dotted with high-rise towers changing our country’s character and architectural heritage forever. Could it be that government pandered to the insatiable craving for “mega bucks” by the construction sector?
Deal followed deal. An oil/gas agreement was brokered with Azerbaijan, considered by the international press to be one of the most corrupt nations on earth. We now also have the ‘honour’ of hosting Pilatus Bank. This bank allegedly caters for, among others, the financial needs of the Aliyev family, the Azerbaijan ruler, and their cronies.
I cannot believe that Muscat finds nothing strange and untoward when a loan given by his chief of staff Keith Schembri to Brian Tonna is repaid by means of a transfer of €100,000 into Schembri’s account at Pilatus Bank in Malta from a company in the British Virgin Islands owned by Tonna.
Meritocracy was slowly but surely discarded and many of the appointments the government made, including those of more than 400 hundred persons of trust, were largely based on political allegiance.
In my opinion the PM’s biggest failure was the way he handled, or failed to handle, the Panama scandal. The Panama Papers uncovered, in a very fortuitous way, that his energy minister and chief of staff and some associates had secretly opened companies in Panama and British Virgin Islands within weeks of the 2013 election. One need not be a rocket scientist to realise that companies are opened in notorious tax havens to hide money from the taxman.
The gentlemen concerned, Konrad Mizzi and Schembri, failed to do the honorable thing and resign immediately when their cover was blown. What worries is Muscat’s stubborn refusal to dismiss them and to continue defending the indefensible up to this day. Why?
This is nowhere near the good governance that was promised. It constitutes behaviour that damages the country’s moral fibre and causes untold harm to Malta’s reputation and credibility locally and overseas. To cap it all, I do not like to see my Prime Minister and his chief of staff summoned to appear before the European Parliament to explain their actions. I cannot recall this ever happening before.
Many of those who placed their trust in Muscat in 2013 must now undoubtedly feel a deep sense of disappointment and disillusionment.
I do, on the other hand, acknowledge the encouraging results achieved in other sectors. The economy is performing strongly, we have minimal unemployment and we are experiencing a boom in our tourist industry. Construction is also booming but that is not always a good thing.
What a pity that these positives have, unfortunately, been overshadowed by poor governance. Honest governance has to become our government’s number one priority. Every country strives for an honest government but judging by the PL performance over the past four years, I don’t think I can be blamed for seriously doubting whether the Labour will be able to provide this.
Tony Zammit Cutajar is a retired businessman.