One would think that with bombs going off in Manchester, with the threat of war in North Korea or in Iran, with a Venezuela that is on the brink of insurrection, and with so much more going on, the world has more than enough on its hands to care about what happens in a small island in the middle of the sea where the people come together in an almighty tribal clash once every five years.

But on the contrary the world does care what happens in Malta. This can be seen from the sudden splurge of news stories, conclusions of investigations by investigative journalists etc which regarded Malta and which have suddenly filled news websites on the eve of the election.

After quite a long period in which we were accustomed to the international media either forgetting all about us of else focusing on set pieces like the CHOGM, the visit by the Queen, the Presidency of the EU Council, etc, suddenly we started getting negative reports about Malta.

The Panama Papers last year revealed that a Maltese minister had a secret bank account in that dodgy jurisdiction. Subsequently, Malta was visited by the PANA committee from the European Parliament which did not get the replies it expected nor the appearances before it that it asked for.

Then last week the Malta Files were broadcast and, while the impact in Malta (considering we are in the midst of an election campaign) was rather muted, its revelations continue to make waves in many other countries. Even yesterday, the international press was still reporting names of people caught with having companies registered in Malta ostensibly with the sole purpose of avoiding tax in their own countries - names which included well-known footballer Edinson Cavani and many industrialists and well-known people in Italy among others.

Malta, split down the middle in the election campaign, has tried to rebut the arguments and has argued the tax system has been in place since Malta's accession in the EU in 2004 and has not been changed.

That however has not stopped papers and politicians from calling Malta the 'Panama of the Mediterranean', a tax haven and other choice names. All this is doing incredible harm to our online gaming, financial services sectors etc. As we report in today's issue, European journalists have been caustically critical as they describe Maltese minister-presidents dodging awkward moments when they preside meetings of ministers on, of all things, tax dodging.

And as if we did not have enough, after the huge issue caused by a Russian whistleblower with regards to the ownership of one Panama account, as we report in today's issue, yesterday's der Spiegel reports about another whistleblower who has come forward, name and all, to cast doubts about the gaming regulator.

Clearly, only a strong and credible action can limit the damage. It is already enough we are in the middle of an election campaign and no side can take this action (well, perhaps they can, look how the British are facing up to the terror attack in Manchester in the middle of an election campaign).

Whoever is chosen by the people of Malta to lead the next government, clearly must be credible enough to impress the world at large. The election will not solve the court issues regarding the ownership of Egrant but clearly a prime minister who kept on a minister with an account in a dodgy jurisdiction is hardly placed to quieten the world's concerns (although to be fair, Dr Muscat has admitted keeping Konrad Mizzi on as a minister may not have been the best solution and has promised to do things better next time round).

The world is watching to see what the people of Malta will do on 3 June, whether they choose to kick away what has been gained over the years for the sake of a few baubles and jobs/promotions or whether they act strongly and robustly to tighten up their systems and remove the Maltese economy from being labeled as a tax haven.