L-Aqwa fl-Ewropa - a review
Joseph Anthony Debono
In 1864, John Newman published his Apologia Pro Vita Sua to defend his integrity from the Anglican establishment attacking him for converting to the Church of Rome. This November, Dr Mark A. Sammut, lawyer and legal historian, published L-Aqwa Fl-Ewropa. This work is partly an Apologia since it outlines the thinking through which the author appears to have transferred his allegiance away from the Labour Party for which he ran as a candidate for election to parliament in 1996 and 1998. But it is also a Philippic, in the spirit of the denunciations of Cicero and Demosthenes against those they believed betrayed the state and its people.
In March 2016, a scandal came to light that shook a government already stained by considerable scandal. Dr Konrad Mizzi, then Minister of Energy and Health, and Mr Keith Schembri, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta, were found in possession of shell companies in Panama held through trusts in New Zealand. The companies were set up by the Panama law firm of Mossack and Fonseca through the services of a Maltese company, Nexia, operating out of an office in the OPM. A public uproar ensued in the media and in the street, while the Opposition led a series of national protests against corruption.
In Greek mythology, Daedalus built such a complex labyrinth for Minos, King of Crete, that, when he himself was imprisoned in it, he could not find the way out. These financial arrangements are by nature very hard to trace, audit and scrutinise. Nobody knows if Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri are actually guilty of anything, beyond the minor issue of non-declaration on Dr Mizzi's part. However, the consensus is that the very possession of such a complexly devised instrument is tantamount to malfeasance. Nonetheless, the matter is extremely tortuous to follow, and largely significant only to experts in the field and people with substantial education.
Enter the author. In this book, Dr Sammut sets out to reduce the complexity of the case to the simplest expression that his considerable powers of thought and articulation can achieve. The book deals with all aspects of this scandal. It sheds light on Mossack and Fonseca, the jurisdiction of Panama, the Trust system in New Zealand, and the identities and types of people availing themselves of these services. It also examines other players in the matter, from its local nexus, to other individuals who played a role, both for, or against the protagonists, or rather antagonists of the story. Dr Sammut writes in a manner as comprehensive and forensic as one would expect from someone of his legal background. All this is written in a tone, less bellicose than the author is wont to use, but still with thunderous undertones. It is these chapters that are most reminiscent of a Philippic.
However, this book is not only a Philippic. The author includes exceptionally interesting chapters with a philosophical thrust, and others giving the historical background on Joseph Muscat's Labour Party, while it concludes with an essay on political philosophy by Adrian Pabst. It is in these chapters that this book becomes an Apologia. For it is in these chapters that the author outlines his own social and political philosophy, and demonstrates how under Joseph Muscat, the Labour Party has departed so far from the principles that Dr Sammut holds dear.
The book is beautifully written, in a Maltese idiom that is both entertaining and aesthetically pleasing. That is to be expected from someone with such linguistic mastery. The book is 234 pages long and it is printed in a large and clear font, making it extremely easy to read. As a publication, it does have a couple of shortcomings. The use of infographics would have made it far easier to follow the argument since, despite the author's largely successful efforts to clarify the issue, the matter is unusually complex. Secondly, all the notes are at the end, which I dislike intensely. It is frustrating for me to keep turning in mid-narrative to the back of the book to read the admittedly interesting notes that are so copious that they virtually comprise another volume of the work. Otherwise, the publication has no other flaw. It will not fall apart at the hands of a reader, unless unusually careless.
The book expresses the author's feelings about a scandal he deems truly egregious, and it also explains, through philosophy and history, why the author came to this point. It is best read for the former reason but readers keen on political philosophy and history will enjoy following the influences that shaped the author's thoughts. But the biggest influence on the author comes from the real, albeit unseen, protagonist of the book, the man who spoke the words that sum up the essential philosophy of Dr Sammut in its crispest form. For this protagonist is none less than Dr Simon Busuttil. And the words, though simple, are the whole principle underlying the book: The economy is there for the people. Nothing else besides.
L-Aqwa fl-Ewropa
Dr Mark Anthony Sammut
Pages: 234