David Stellini, PN spokesman for European Affairs

Malta is fantastic. For foreigners, and for Maltese nationals like me who lived abroad for many years, Malta is great. Great weather, low tax rates and a safe environment where people are friendly and welcoming. At least this is the perception out there. Or is it?

Well, I hope it still is. My impression though is that it is slowly changing and it is changing for the worse, not for the better. This is not to say that we cannot do anything about it. On the contrary we can and we are doing our bit.

We, the Nationalist Party, have consistently put forward proposals which incidentally dovetail with those currently being made by the European Parliament. However, it is a real pity that we had to come to this stage where the EU is telling us what to do. This is not rocket science. It is elementary, except that there seems to be little political will from the current government. We will not rest until the crooks are punished and the air is cleared of the sense of impunity that has seeped in.

After all this is not just a question of restoring Malta’s reputation. This is about us. Twelve per cent of our gross domestic product comes from the financial industry. If this goes haywire all of us will feel the pinch and I say ‘all of us’ advisedly.

The cowardly murder of a fearless investigative journalist and glaring examples of lack of enforcement by authorities on high profile allegations of money laundering and embezzlement have put the spotlight on Malta. Not that this was the first time. The sale of the citizenship programme had attracted the wrong kind of publicity, not to mention the high-profile case of the Italian Mafia laundering money through an online gaming company set up in Malta. In short, for some time there has been suspicion that things are not as rosy as they seem.

Let’s get our act together. What we need is courage, honesty and a modicum of humility to accept that there is a very real problem

Suspicion of massive money laundering activities are not only associated with Malta. Other EU countries are frequently touted as possible destinations of laundered proceeds of crime and this happens for many different reasons. So there is a very strong drive to stifle money laundering activities not just from the EU but also from the Council of Europe, the OECD and the G7.

The Paradise Papers, the Panama Papers, the Malta files, the Swiss leaks and the Lux leaks demonstrate the magnitude of tax evasion and the potential cases of money laundering  by the rich and powerful worldwide. And it looks like we have not yet seen the back of this grave matter.

The anti-money laundering push by the international community is very welcome and the Maltese government must step up to the plate as our future is being put at risk. It was really cringe worthy watching the European Parliament debate on Malta on Tuesday. More than ever before we are being associated with activities that involve filthy amounts of money from criminality, illegal arms trade, prostitution, drugs and the like.

I think Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has thought it fit to delay the introduction of the EU anti-money laundering law into Maltese law in order to postpone the debate on money laundering in the Maltese Parliament. Now he has got more than a handful as regrettably there has been a debate in the European Parliament with a resolution and eventually a visit by MEPs to Malta on the related subject of the rule of law, apart from the next debates in the Maltese Parliament and the upcoming visit of anti-money laundering experts from the Council of Europe (Moneyval) in 2018.

Well, what are they going to tell us? Exactly what the Nationalist Party has been saying for months and years. Beef up the Economic Crimes Unit of the Police Force and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) with well-paid, well-trained people and give them the right software to do their job properly.

Address the genuine concerns about the apparent impunity of people in high places and address the much broader subject of rule of law in Malta head on.

Let’s get our act together. What we need is courage, honesty and a modicum of humility to accept that there is a very real problem. Above all we need political will to make it happen.

The Labour Party failed to send in their contribution in time for publication.

If you would like to put any questions to the two parties in Parliament send an e-mail marked clearly Question Time to editor@timesofmalta.com.

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