Since the despicable murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Joseph Muscat has tried to squirm his way out of accepting any kind of responsibility for that crime. Well, what follows may serve to refresh his memory.
The police. To accommodate John Dalli, Muscat replaced a competent police commissionaire by an obliging one to do his bidding. The result was a revolving door of police commissionaires, five at the last count.
The army. Again, to accommodate a close friend and install an obliging army chief, he helped his close friend leapfrog four senior army officers to take their place. Not forgetting that comedy act of promoting half of the army before the last general election.
The Attorney General. Muscat here tells half a truth, that he retained the Attorney General he found; he merely confirmed him. Well, let me remind him why he should not have confirmed him. Under the Gonzi government, the Attorney General had given an opinion that there was sufficient grounds to indict Dalli, who came up with every stratagem not to come to Malta and face the music. Once Muscat was installed Prime Minister, the Attorney General changed his opinion and Dalli could come to Malta with no care in the world. That episode was followed by a series of other decisions such as the Panama Papers saga.
The Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, the body tasked with policing the financial sector. That institution, post the Panama Papers scandal, was rendered toothless. Unbelievably, the leaked FIAU reports were described by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna as being written to be leaked.
The Labour parliamentary backbenchers. Muscat bought their acquiesce by giving them other positions to supplement their salary.
The civil service. The very first act of a newly-installed Muscat was to appoint a political activist as its head and the staffing of various state boards and entities with Labour activists.
These and the various other investigated scandals, too many to mention and left to gather dust by a complacent police force and Attorney General have led to what has been termed elsewhere as the ‘culture of impunity’. That culture led to the pitiful state Malta is in and that led some to feel they could murder an inconvenient journalist.
All of that can be laid at Muscat’s door. Do you think he will take any responsibility for it? Don’t hold your breath.