The allegations about Egrant Inc. and the Premier’s wife, who like Caesar’s, must be above suspicion, have two dimensions.
There is the forensic dimension, which in a country, at least for now, governed under the Rule of Law, depends on the availability of legal evidence.
The extent to which any legal case, in the full sense of the words, can succeed, is always debatable. In this particular instance, “Spanish Practices” (it’s a phrase, apologies to that country) were apparently inherent in Pilatus Bank’s operations.
The sight of a suitcase-bearing chairman scuttling out of a side entrance accompanied by some Girl Friday or other is incontrovertible evidence of this, and more seems to be seeing the light of day by the minute. This is symptomatic of a mentality that seems to play fast and loose with the idea of preserving even a semblance of propriety in the way these people are alleged to treat their employees. Marry this with their abysmal grasp of public relations and assorted faux pas in denying, then virtually admitting, the veracity of documents.
The result is a perfect recipe for obfuscation and obstruction that would tax even the finest analytical minds, let alone a magistrate who has to rely on the police to help him.
You’ve got to love the way, incidentally, the police dutifully said “how high?” when Pilatus squealed for an investigation about how their documents leaked. In contrast, they appear to have been very, very reluctant about investigating that which the said documents revealed. Like Alice, and the Commissioner, we’re down the rabbit hole.
Above and way, way, beyond the forensic dimension, there is, however, the political one.
In this dimension, the ease with which the electorate at large has embraced the idea that with that amount of smoke, there is a humongous fire somewhere, demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt the vastness of the problem looming above Premier Muscat and his reputation.
The question that many will put to themselves will be stark in its simplicity: ‘Is this man fit to govern?’
Bluntly put, many people take the assorted protestations of innocence with enough pinches of salt to season a whole weekend’s worth of fries at KFC, BK and MickeyD.
It’s not about Egrant anymore, and from Simon Busuttil’s point of view, it never was. His original evidence to the inquiring magistrate – who found enough in it to order a criminal inquiry – was about Premier Muscat’s chief of staff, not about Egrant. Schembri was a prime (the primary?) mover within Mr ex-Speaker Angelo Farrugia’s ‘Fourth floor’ at MLP HQ.
Schembri deserves – forgive the use of the word – the credit for getting Premier Muscat into power.
From alleged kickbacks on the sale of those very same passports which that very same Premier Muscat was instrumental in selling to “worthy” (ha!) individuals, allegations about Schembri’s dealings have exploded with new details about his financial involvements with Adrian Hillman, formerly of this parish.
True to form, Premier Muscat stuck up for his consiglieri and has refused to throw him to the wolves. He’s done the same with what’s ’is name, that Mizzi ‘Shame On You’ husband of Sai bloke, and the same again with the Nexia BT lad, Brian Tonna. We’ve become used to it.
Premier Muscat’s apologists and supporters insist there is no evidence that he is involved. Their incessant spinning and lying (such as about how the Egrant inquiry was concluded last Wednesday) means that they can do this until they are blue in the face.
Politically, Premier Muscat is in it up to his increasingly scrawny neck.
It gets worse for the craven spinners daily.
A visibly shocked Busuttil last Wednesday said the police knew about the ‘Hillman Affair’ (not to mention everything else) at least at the end of last year. He said they did nothing about it, and I have no reason to disbelieve him.
If there was a cover-up, why was there one? Did Premier Muscat know about it?
More generally, though, other questions resound.
Is it the case that Premier Muscat has no idea what’s going on around him? Or is it the case that he’s so naive that he isn’t believing it?
On the other hand, is it the case that he knows and can’t or won’t do anything about it? Or is it the case that he’s in it up to the eyeballs?
For my country’s sake, I hope the answer to the last two questions is “no”. The electorate, going forward and taking into consideration the whole picture, might adopt the old adage that in these circumstances, our reality is far greater than the sum of its parts taken singly.
Electoral judgement on Premier Muscat will be cast in a couple of weeks. The question that many will put to themselves will be stark in its simplicity: “Is this man fit to govern?”
The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind.