Malta is living a tragicomedy. It has a popular – and populist - government and the economy is booming but its moral fibre is in tatters. It has gone through similar testing times before, however, after the horrendous experiences of the Dom Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici administrations, when the rule of thugs overruled the rule of law, few would have thought the island could once again go back to a situation where many people would lose trust in key institutions.
The ugly, disheartening state the country is in today has not been brought about by accident but by design and that is what is most discouraging. A big parliamentary majority has given the government of Joseph Muscat enough leeway to do what it pleases in the way it wants to and when it wants to.
As from day one, Dr Muscat sought to gradually assume absolute power, throwing aside all that he himself had undertaken to do in the belief that, once he had the support of the majority of the people, there was no way of stopping him commanding not just the heights of the economy but the country in a way that runs diametrically opposite to what he had promised.
Supposedly independent and autonomous institutions essential for the rule of law to reign supreme are responding to his whims. When the guardians of law and order are seen by most to dance to the government’s tune, the country’s democratic process suffers one blow after another, as has been the case for quite some time now.
Dr Muscat is a very persuasive talker and has ably managed to camouflage the dark side of Malta with handouts and an impression that, with a galloping economy, the country has become the envy of the European Union. Still, however good he is at convincing the people that they are going through the best of times, he could not stop the uncovering of what lies beneath the surface, beneath the veneer of economic progress.
Slain journalist/blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia assumed a leading role in, gradually, stripping the veneer off to reveal a situation where, as she pointedly put it, crooks are now everywhere. There have been so many cases of wrongdoing, reports of money laundering and of graft, that the country is finding it difficult whom to believe, whom to trust.
When she was blown up to bits in her own car, the world turned its attention to Malta, hardly believing that something so horrendous could also happen here. But it did and they were surprised to learn that this tiny island has another face to that Dr Muscat gives. It is not exactly a nice face.
In the wake of the murder, many abroad must have now formed an unfavourable impression of Malta, something the country must correct. Unfortunately, Dr Muscat has so far shown he is more interested in playing the victim and in attacking his political rivals than in coming to grips with the situation.
He is arrogantly ignoring the people’s call for resignations, thinking that, with the electoral support he has won in two elections, he can do no wrong. But the wrong is there for all to see and, instead of the best of times, we are now living the worst of times.