The word “Mafia” usually brings to mind images of a machine gun toting rough and tough guy from Corleone or Totò Riina briefing his men around a large dining table in a secluded farmhouse in the province of Catania (or Gozo?), or a group of ‘Ndranghetari from Pizzo Calabro travelling overnight from Calabria to Dresden in order to wipe out the whole clientele of a pizzeria in the centre of town with their Kalashnikovs.
Malta has been blessed: this type of Mafia does not really exist. It only exists in the form of a much milder mentality.
Abroad, when the government of the day dishes out one contract after another by direct order to a greedy, money guzzling politician-lawyer, they call it clientelism. Here in Malta we call it “person of trust”.
Abroad, when a Prime Minister gives four promotions in three months to his best friend who thus becomes army chief, they call it abuse of power. In Malta, it is called exigencies of the service.
Abroad, when a politician appoints as his PRO paid with public money a journalist coming from the TV station of his/her political stable, they call it nepotism. In Malta, they call it “because he is capable”.
Malta has been blessed: this type of Mafia does not really exist. It only exists in the form of a much milder mentality
Abroad, when they appoint as chairmen of rehabilitation projects, of cultural capital and what not party appartchiks, they call it abuse of power. In Malta, they justify it saying, “he cannot because he’s Labour?”
Abroad, when the Speaker of Parliament is given the job in order to buy his silence and to stop him from revealing the shady deals going on in the “fourth floor”, they call it political bribery and they call the concerned politician a political bootlicker. In Malta, they call it Tagħna lkoll.
Abroad, when politicians sponsor the football teams in their electoral districts or dish out hampers and bottles of wine during electoral campaigns, they call it vote-buying. In Malta, these politicians are described as “benefactors”.
Abroad, when a fisherman opens up a diesel import company, the police become really suspicious. In Malta, the comment is: “How he’s progressed, God bless him.”
Abroad, when a national team footballer becomes a fisherman people start smelling something fishy. In Malta, we say, “Oh come on, he likes the sea”.
Abroad, when the government dishes out public land or public hospitals very cheaply to foreign shady persons, the local judiciary immediately initiates a public enquiry. In Malta instead we boast that we are creating jobs.
Abroad, when the government dishes out public land in prime sites to private individuals, corruption is the first thing that comes to mind. In Malta instead we justify all this by shouting, parrot like,“L-aqwa żmien”.
Abroad, when the Prime Minister and chief of staff are caught participating at the wedding of a suspected crook, the politicians concerned immediately resign or are subjected to a public investigation. In Malta instead, this is justified by saying, “I paid for the plane ticket to get to Firenze”.
Abroad, when a director of the foremost newspaper in the country was present at the aforementioned wedding of the aforementioned alleged crook, he is immediately kicked out of his position.
In Malta, instead, his presence is justified with the words “I was there in my personal capacity”.
Abroad, when a lawyer coming from the legal office of a member of Parliament defends one of Daphne’s alleged killers, this is deemed to be a national political scandal. Or when an Opposition politician is a sub-agent for a government-sponsored scheme selling citizenship and passports, abroad they call it opportunism. In Malta we call it “Not everyone needs to earn a living?”
Luckily, in Malta we are so blessed that we don’t have the traditional Mafia.
Arnold Cassola is former Alternattiva Demokratika chairman and former secretary general of the European Green Party.