This government led by Joseph Muscat has been caught with its pants down. It was caught being filthy and corrupt through events that were beyond them. They did not reckon with the Panama Papers being exposed, they did not reckon with State Minister’s names, Prime Minister’s secretariat members and consultants being exposed, they did not reckon with people having the courage to expose them in government workings and in corrupt banking practices. They strongly deserve to disappear forever from the Maltese political landscape for the ride they have taken us, all the way down the crooked road.
A sinking ship tries to hide its presence. It puts out smokescreens. Beware of the smokescreens by this government, they are very well placed. The issue of gay marriage is one of them. This was introduced, lock, stock and barrel in 2013 in anything but name. It is again being dangled before the Maltese electorate as bait by the Prime Minister, an insult to everyone’s emotions. It is a distraction of the first order and an insult to everyone’s intelligence both those in favour and against. Focus on the corruption, the real McCoy.
The promises being made to everyone in exaggerated fashion, promises to give everything to everyone free of charge. Promises to reduce hunting penalties, which he himself had raised, does not hide the utter disregard for human intelligence and the utter disaster and neglect of the environment which we have seen under this government; its penchant to take everyone for a ride is paramount. Focus on the filthy corruption they are involved in, the rape of the environment and our rights.
The government’s inability to act against the perpetrators of crime and graft should be an eye-opener. This is not the novel 1984. We need action to be taken against the perpetrators of sleaze not against journalists who do their duty and report on the information they obtain and on the evidence before them. The FIAU report on kickback graft on the sale of Maltese passports by Keith Schembri is a case in point. The report by the government’s own anti-corruption agency lay dormant for a year on the desks of the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General, and no one in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat is called in except the journalists who publish the report! Focus on the corruption. The pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a severe critic of the Nazis in Germany in the last war. His criticism of the regime was factual and true. He was killed in a Nazi concentration camp by corrupt people for revealing the truth. Do not let this happen to our good people and our good nation. Focus on the corruption.
The reason that the Prime Minister has not taken any action against his chief of staff and his consultant Brian Tonna has been made manifestly obvious by the publication of a whistleblower’s information stating that the owner of the secret Panama Trust ‘Egrant’ is the Prime Minister’s wife! Could it be that he did not take action against them because he was implicated and could not act because they had a hold on him? All this going and coming to Azerbaijan and its oily products have forged a veritable gang of three musketeers. Focus on the corruption which is staring you in the face.
All this rhetoric of ‘where is the evidence’ when the evidence has been corroborated to enquiring magistrates and is staring us in the face, should lead us all to be very vigilant! The Labour Party should be the first to be very vigilant because it has been conned by its own leaders and is now a shadow of its former self. Is there one person from the Labour Party’s ranks who questions this filth, this graft, this slime? The nation has to hold the people who have usurped power responsible for what they have done. They have taken us all for a ride and we should not let ourselves go down to their slimy level by blindly accepting lame excuses for their gross misconduct. Focus on the perverse corruption perpetuated!
Money no problem the government says! Only it is our money and our government and our nation and our island and they have fed our money and our names to the dogs along with their evil intentions. Our money is lining their pockets and the pockets of their minions and not the pockets of those in need. Focus on the greed. The corruption which has been perpetrated behind our back is the biggest threat we face at the moment. It is the biggest issue before us, the biggest evil we face. It is the biggest threat to the common good which is the highest virtue in politics. People should be on their guard. The devil quotes scripture to defend his actions. Do not let anybody even hint at blinding you with artificial sweeteners. I say this to all men and women of good will. Christians, Muslims, agnostics, atheists should focus on the manifest evil and only on the obvious evil before us at the moment.
Make no mistake; on 3rd June we will have a singular opportunity to get rid of a manifestly corrupt lot. Do not let anything blind you to the singular truth that we have to get rid of a very corrupt government which has been caught in the act. Do not mince actions or words. All people in court say they are innocent even though many go to prison for their crimes after being found guilty. Vote for individuals who can guarantee a return to civil society, the return of a just government, a return to the common good. Vote for individuals and parties that can re-establish our name up with the stars again. Vote with your head, not with your denials. Vote for what is good not for what is evil. Vote for Malta to return with a government that extolls virtue in the economy, social justice and in upholding our neglected and degrading environment! It is a meeting with destiny we dare not let escape because destiny, dear friends, has all our names on it.
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Dr Asciak is Senior Lecturer II in the Institute of Applied Science at MCAST