The aftermath of the tragic assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has served to highlight the confusing situation Maltese politics finds itself in today.

At present, we have a very efficient government which is supported by an ever-increasing majority of Maltese citizens but which also has to face a barrage of criticism over issues of good governance, albeit most of it unfair and based on mere allegations.

On the other hand, we have the main party in Opposition splintered into two factions, the majority backing the Nationalist Party leader, Adrian Delia, and a totally disloyal minority who still seem to believe that the leader is Simon Busuttil.

To complicate things even further, we also have two Democratic Party representatives in Parliament who are treated as outsiders by the Nationalists despite the fact that they formed part of the same coalition at the June general election.

This splintering of the Opposition and the power vacuum it has created on a political level has meant that people are sometimes looking beyond the Nationalist Party for leadership in forcefully opposing the Labour government.

Some have put their hope in the Civil Society Network and its allied protest groups. However, many are becoming sceptical about it because it is more than obvious that this is led by people who are very close to the Nationalist Party or even form an important part of it.

People like Michael Briguglio cannot expect to be taken seriously when they present themselves as simply citizens whose prime interest is the welfare of their country.

I would even go as far as suggesting that it is possible that what Briguglio is really after is the exposure necessary to later on run for the PN leadership. He knows that if the PN is defeated by another landslide in the 2019 European Parliament elections and the local councils elections, then Delia would probably not survive as PN leader.

That would be his ideal opportunity and it seems that he might already have started preparing for it by taking the most prominent role in the Civil Society Network which provides him with the exposure necessary to become popular with many people who oppose the Labour government.

Having said this, it is becoming clear that the majority of people are not being fooled by Briguglio’s Civil Society Network charade. This has brought about a situation where some are even looking towards the Catholic Church and especially Archbishop Charles Scicluna to provide the leadership necessary in what they regard as a country where values are swiftly vanishing and where material prosperity is the only yardstick used by many in all aspects of daily life, including public life.

To denigrate in a very rude and offensive manner such a well-meaning and highly respected person as the Archbishop is simply pathetic

This, of course, is highly controversial because many believe that the Church should not get embroiled in public controversies of a political nature. Many Labourites are particularly angry at the Archbishop for freely expressing in public his opinion about various matters of public controversy.

I am one who fully supports the right of the Archbishop to publicly give his views on any matter of public debate, even politics. The Catholic Church, however, has to be extremely careful in the use of its media.

Even a well-meant report which is perhaps too critical of the government may seem to many as parroting PN propaganda. This should be avoided at all costs, even if it is done unintentionally.

Having said this, I must also state that I am disgusted with some of the criticism levelled at the Archbishop. To criticise, one does not need to offend. To denigrate in a very rude and offensive manner such a well-meaning and highly respected person as the Archbishop is simply pathetic and shows the lack of calibre of the person making the accusations.

The Archbishop has a positive role to play in the present state of Maltese politics and that is to serve as a moral beacon guiding all those involved in it.

He is not perfect and I myself have been publicly but also constructively critical of him recently but I still see him as a great moral leader in what has become a soulless Maltese society.

Some might feel baffled by what I have written up to now but that is precisely my intention because the situation in Maltese politics and even Malta as a whole is really baffling and complicated at present.

We have a picture of a strong Labour government attacked on all sides both in Malta and abroad and yet emerging ever stronger.

We have a national leader, Joseph Muscat, who is showing great statesmanship and earning the respect of many both locally and beyond our shores.

We have an Opposition leader who is trying to rebuild his party despite some of the basest displays of disloyalty within his party ever to be witnessed in Maltese political history.

We have civil society public protests which many suspect are not what they really seem to be.

We have an Archbishop who has the guts to speak his mind publicly on political matters and whom you can only admire even when you disagree with him.

Yes, the present situation in Maltese politics is rather complicated.

Desmond Zammit Marmarà is a Balzan Labour councillor.