The year 1992 had been so bad for the British monarchy that Queen Elizabeth had called it an annus horribilis. It is unlikely that President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca will use that term to describe 2017. But it was.

Malta started the year with the presidency of the European Union, a hyped-up ceremonial post that became a damp squib when an unexpected snap election, called a year too early, took the island by storm.

Away from the electoral programmes, a new vocabulary began to emerge, most especially on the social media. The island learnt about a Dubai company called 17 Black, about the alleged ownership of the Panama company called Egrant and of the night activities of a bank in Ta’ Xbiex called Pilatus. All this and reports of sleaze and corruption, including those from leaked documents from the government’s anti-money laundering agency, FIAU, coupled by police inaction, rattled the country’s institutions.

And, yet, Joseph Muscat and the Labour Party he leads breezed to resounding victory. Either people did not believe a word or they would not care. The Nationalist Party that had promised to clean up the country was shattered.

An eerie lull followed that electoral victory. A sudden, strategic priority for the government was gay marriage. The issue exposed cracks in the PN and the succeeding leadership bloodbath just floored it. The country was without an Opposition.

Still, the ghosts of sleaze past began to rise again. Then Opposition leader Simon Busuttil went to the courts to obtain some form of justice on the many allegations made.

A new reality began to emerge. The shameful passport sale scheme became a major contributing factor to the country’s accounts and an extension was promised. It was like a flashback to the Knights of Malta’s licensed corsairs, when everyone was happy with the booty rolling in.

Then the inexplicable happened. Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered. There was an initial uproar but there were no impressive crowds in the streets. A country doped by economic figures could not be bothered, it seemed.

A brave, resolute crowd did stand out, a new generation that said no, repeatedly, resolutely and persistently. But when it came to the crunch, Dr Muscat’s approval figures rose, leaving his Nationalist opponent far behind. A delegation from the European Parliament came to examine the rule of law on the island and left unimpressed.

The year could have come to a sad close at that point but there was more to come, conveniently around Christmas. The much-vaunted health agreement the government reached with the Vitals Healthcare Group fell through. An American company had taken over three State hospitals and Malta had given its consent. Everything the government said or did suddenly began to look hollow.

The deal left a sour taste of something already planned. It felt like living in a fiefdom, of the socialist kind. Still, people were happy with their government jobs, their political patronage and their permits to ruin the country’s heritage. They felt they had never had it so good, even though their very dignity was being trampled upon.

It was a year that ended worse off than it started, an annus horribilis for the civic minded. Yet, it raises the curtain on more to come. The rot has seeped in too deep and there seems no end in sight.

This is a Times of Malta print editorial

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