What a dreadful weekend. At the time of writing, the number of deaths following the shocking and appalling terrorist attacks in France reached 132, with many others receiving treatment for serious injuries. I paid my respects in silence.

Another horrific incident followed in a local nightclub in Paceville. Footage of young people screaming and falling on top of each other was screened repeatedly. In the incident, over 70 revellers were injured as a glass guard-rail gave in. Two teens were critically injured.

It is excruciating to watch helpless people in different situations trying hard to hold on to dear life.

Let's hope that governments are able to join forces to combat those responsible for the atrocities in France. On the other hand, locally, let's hope that the inquiry identifies those responsible for the serious incident in Paceville. Action should be taken to avoid such incidents, while crowd control personnel in the Paceville area need to be adequately supplemented.

Now let me get back to what I planned on writing about this week - corruption.

The untimely resignation from the House of Dr Joe Cassar, former Health Minister, has set off an extensive debate. Let's hope it would be a serious, mature and responsible discussion. Although it is clear that Dr Cassar did not succumb to the perpetrator's requests, in a bid to protect his reputation and ensure that his political grouping does not take unnecessary political flack, Dr Cassar opted to resign. He earned the respect of many for taking such an honourable decision, difficult as this decision may have been.

Let's be frank. On many occasions, frivolous allegations of corruption are thrown in the face of political opponents. Whether warranted or not, this is gradually eroding the credibility in various political office holders. Corruption takes many forms.

Corruption takes place when an elected person, an executive or a person holding a position of trust takes advantage of his/her position at the expense of others, or turns a blind eye to favouritism, nepotism, bribery, extortion, blackmail, coercion or embezzlement.

When any such allegations surface, the least one is expected to do is to offer his resignation pending investigations. If this is not forthcoming, then this should be sought from his/her superior for the sake of transparency. Presently, there are a number of allegations of corruption against different PL ministers and parliamentary secretaries, but no one dares take the honourable decision. Clearly, our society is becoming indifferent to corruption, as those who should know better hang on to power, even if their position is untenable.

Corruption is not exclusive to Malta. Here I have penned some random examples of alleged corruption cases and how these were dealt with.

In 1999, all twenty EU Commissioners, under the presidency of Jacques Santer, handed their resignation following a report of alleged cases of fraud, corruption and mismanagement.

Earlier this month, Victor Ponta, Romanian Prime Minister, handed his resignation after people took to the streets to protest over a nightclub fire that killed 32. Demonstrators called for Ponta's resignation due to poor safety regulations. But that was only the straw that broke the camel's back. Ponta is to go on trial on allegations of tax evasion, money laundering and fraud.

In mid-September 2015, the Egyptian government resigned. Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb tendered the Egyptian Cabinet's resignation after the Agriculture Minister was arrested over bribes allegedly amounting to €900 million. The case in question involved the sale of government property to a businessman, who reportedly offered the Minister money in exchange for approving the transaction.

The spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has set up a commission to look into alleged cases of financial mismanagement.

Late in May 2015, FIFA's senior officials faced serious accusations of corruption, bribery, kick-backs and vote buying in the process of deciding which countries were to host the World Cup.

Back to Malta; a clear meaning of what constitutes corruption needs to be redefined. Currently, those sitting in office are precluded from receiving any gifts. Receiving a bottle of fine wine, a pair of cufflinks, a book, a tie or a pen or any other gift of the sort makes the receiver an accomplice in corruption. This is certainly out of time.

I do not share the opinion that persons in authority can be bribed with small gifts. If this were the case, then corruption is all over the place. A gift to express sincere gratitude is not the same as a gift intended as a bribe. Who has never given or received some token of appreciation, stand up. I'm certain that all will remain seated. In this regard, the legislation proposed by the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Simon Busuttil, to have a Commissioner for Standards in Public Life should be taken up at the very earliest to ensure that what needs to be addressed is addressed without further delay.