Malta has passed through a traumatic three weeks since the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. All people of goodwill have been shocked and unsettled. All have felt deep compassion for the husband, sons and parents she left behind, and admired the dignity with which they have borne their loss.
There has been genuine mourning and heart-searching. But there has also been hatred, hysteria, hypocrisy, handwringing, exaggeration, deep misunderstanding and conspiracy theories aplenty about what this barbarous act tells us about the state of Malta today. The rhetoric of some political commentators has replaced reasoned argument and concern with partisan distortion, when what is desperately needed is a unified approach.
Misleading accounts have been generated by the international media and some in the European Parliament – abetted shamelessly by some in Malta – who have written unthinkingly and without a shred of evidence that Malta is a ‘Mafia State’.
In a Mafia State, it is the state itself that controls the criminal networks. In these states, government takes over existing criminal cartels not to stamp them out, but to control and use them for the benefit of the criminalised government leaders, and their accomplices and associates. It is a travesty to imply that Malta displays any of these elements.
Malta is no more a Mafia State today than it was 20 or 50 years ago. Our governance and administration since we attained independence have been consistently weak. Corruption starts with nepotism, cronyism and clientelism, then seeps into every pore of political life.
It was rife under previous Nationalist administrations and has been endemic since 2013 under the present Labour government. Successive governments have pledged reform, but have invariably fallen woefully short of their promises.
Anybody who argues that Malta is a Mafia State is either deceitful or deluded. The international reputational damage done to Malta by this tragic killing has been toxic. A massive slice of Malta’s wealth, affecting both the financial services industry and the (over-heated) property market, is vulnerable and at risk of implosion.
Unless political parties act in a bi-partisan and determined manner to counter the misleading image being spread about Malta, its moral capital will be undermined and the social, political and economic consequences will be catastrophic.
How Prime Minister Joseph Muscat handles this one act of brutality will define his premiership and place in history. In the face of the understandable emotional reaction to this event from people on both sides of Malta’s tribal divide, Muscat has reacted with dignity and composure.
It is the duty and business of government to govern. It is an essential element of leadership that a prime minister must act normally in abnormal conditions, to continue to think rationally when the rest have ceased to think, and to be decisive when many people are paralysed by indecision. In a crisis, cool heads must prevail.
Urgent action must now be taken to introduce solutions to the culture of poor governance and administration that have consistently held Malta back. It is imperative that Muscat’s government confronts the issue head-on.
What should happen now?
The Commissioner of Police has lost the confidence of the country. He must be replaced as soon as possible by a top foreign professional from Britain
In addition to the independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the murder, the Prime Minister must now set in train a five-point action plan aimed at dealing with the long-standing governance issues that have led to this crisis. And he must demonstrate to the world that Malta has nothing to hide.
First, he must immediately establish the long-promised convention on the Constitution under the leadership of a respected independent-minded person of calibre and experience to report within 12 months on proposed changes to the Maltese Constitution. This is fundamental to everything else. The matter must not be allowed to fester.
Talk in Parliament, and by the Prime Minister, of waiting until 2019 for essential changes to the Constitution is utterly misguided and shows scant regard for the governance crisis engulfing us.
Second, the rebuilding of the Police Force must begin immediately. Good leadership is the key to the efficiency and morale of any disciplined force and essential to its rehabilitation. The Commissioner of Police has lost the confidence of the country. He must be replaced as soon as possible by a top foreign professional from Britain (or possibly Australia) to restore confidence and knock the Police Force into shape. It will take years to do so. But the process must start immediately.
I can already hear the anguished cries of those who would see such a step as “colonialist” and an insult to the Maltese. To which I would respond that if the Bank of England can be led by a Canadian because he was the best man for the job, why should Malta find it impossible to accept that its senior police leadership talent is entirely deficient? Extreme circumstances demand radical solutions.
Third, the government must rebut conclusively any suspicion about the involvement of Malta’s gaming industry and financial services in money-laundering and financial crime by inviting independent scrutiny. A non-Maltese, independent auditor should be appointed immediately to ensure that the Malta Gaming Authority has an up-to-date and accurate register of the ultimate beneficial ownership of Malta’s gaming companies.
In parallel, the European Banking Authority should be invited to carry out an independent investigation into the practices and effectiveness of the Malta Financial Services Authority’s licensing of financial institutions to ensure that the risks of money-laundering and financial crime involving politically exposed persons are vigorously addressed.
Fourth, the legislative and administrative steps necessary for the prosecution role of the Attorney General to be removed from his ambit and the establishment of an independent prosecutor general and prosecution service should be set in train immediately.
Fifth, it is vital to launch a professionally-led, well-targeted international diplomatic and lobbying drive in Brussels, Strasbourg and in financial capitals in Europe to restore Malta’s tarnished international reputation and to safeguard its financial services. But this can only succeed if the other four points have been set in train and we have a good product to sell.
If Malta is to come through this crisis, the government must take bold, immediate action to address the long-standing constitutional, legal and reputational challenges which this crisis has exposed. Justice will not be done until this action is taken. The Prime Minister must now show moral leadership.