The Egrant Inc. saga has turned into a full-on farce but the latest instalment is anything but funny.

In the latest twist to this seemingly endless story, the PM issued a clear threat to the Magistrate who is leading the Egrant inquiry, warning him that if the inquiry clears him but only after he has lost the election, Dr Aaron Bugeja would have to shoulder the responsibility.

Lawyers were shocked at hearing this statement, which is an obvious attempt by the PM to exert pressure on the judiciary. It is a shame that the government, which has already eroded the public trust in many other institutions, namely the police force, the Attorney General’s office and the financial services regulator, is now going after the courts as well.

The magistrate cannot be held to account if the inquiry finds no wrongdoing. As an example, the police are duty bound to investigate any credible information they receive against a person, but they cannot be held responsible if the investigation does not lead to prosecution.

Or maybe Muscat is saying that the Magistrate should hurry up and finish the inquiry in the coming days, before the election, giving the impression that he knows that he is innocent and wants the public to know that before people head to the polls. But putting this kind of pressure on the Magistrate – who is well respected and known for his impartiality and thoroughness – is a very irresponsible thing to do. It is indeed the PM who should shoulder the responsibility. After all it was he who rushed into a snap election, instead of stepping down until the inquiry was concluded, as he was advised to do.

Joseph Muscat, of all people, should know that politicians should not interfere in matters of the judiciary. He is, after all, the same PM who, before the last general election sacked his number two – Anglu Farrugia – over comments involving a different magistrate.

But it seems that the situation is frantic and none of that matters now.

The Prime Minister is clearly worried – his hysterical speech last Sunday gave it away, and the surreal claims of Russian involvement in the election took things to a whole new level. The usually calm and composed Muscat is blaming everyone and everything when the largest part of the blame lies with him and with him only.

In the Egrant saga, he has shifted the blame from Daphne Caruana Galizia, to the whistleblower, to Simon Busuttil and has now played the Russian card, even if he has not directly stated that Russia was behind this. On Thursday night, he again said the PN was behind the “fabrication.” But he needs to decide once and for all who he wants to blame. Is it one or the other, or all of the above?

The fact of the matter is that the situation the country finds itself in is well beyond Egrant. The damage to Malta’s reputation, stemming from the Panama and FIAU scandals and the PM’s subsequent inaction, is threatening two of our most important economic sectors. As reported in this newspaper yesterday, the financial services industry is doubtful that Muscat can fix this situation. The PM’s refusal to say if Keith Schembri will be by his side during another term is only adding to the speculation and uncertainty. The gaming sector, it seems, is next in line to fall victim to this predicament.

Malta has a PM who is subject to a magisterial inquiry and his closest aide and friend is subject to two others. This should not be accepted in a normal democratic country but, then again, Malta is not a normal democratic country.

Instead of sacking the people who opened up companies in Panama, one of whom (Schembri) was also the subject of two damning FIAU reports, Muscat defended them with all his energy. This week he was brazen enough to tell us that under “normal circumstances” he would have sacked Mizzi and Schembri, but he needed them for important projects. But even there he is at fault, for the major deals brokered by the two, including the power station deal and the Crane Currency deal, are marred by allegations of corruption and conflict of interest.