The French political class and four ministers in particular this week showed what political accountability is all about.

France’s justice minister, defence minister, European affairs minister and the country’s minister for territorial cohesion have all stepped down over recent days after news broke that they could be facing investigations – not that they are being investigated, but that they could be investigated.

Three of them are facing investigations following allegations over the misuse of European Parliament funds by having used aides receiving European Parliament salaries to perform work for the party. All three deny wrongdoing.

The fourth minister who resigned did so because he faces investigation over an alleged conflict of interest related to his past business practices. He denies doing anything illegal, but acknowledged that some old habits are no longer accepted by the public.

The backdrop was French President Emmanuel Macron’s leading campaign pledge to put more ethics into politics, as was Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s lead campaign pledge back in 2013.

Restoring the reputation of the French political class has become an increasingly important topic in France, particularly after Francois Fillon's presidential bid publicly collapsed on reports that he paid his wife for work as a parliamentary aide that she allegedly did not perform.

And as such, the ministers who stand accused of misconduct had no choice but to fall on their swords at the mere scent of wrongdoing and scandal. But in our parallel universe here in Malta, there was no such consideration from any member of the government who faced allegations, or who was even proven to have engaged in misconduct such as having opened secret Panamanian companies while in office.

What a far cry all this is from the situation in Malta, where even ministers and top aides caught with the proverbial smoking gun in their hands cling fast to their positions, and where a Prime Minister defends them to the quick and even reappoints them after election.

We in Malta evidently have a long, long way to go if we are to ever reach France’s standards of political accountability.

Such considerations and standards need to come first and foremost from the electorate, for if the electorate never demands such accountability, it will never happen. Take the last general election for example. The election’s very catalyst was corruption claims and it was the opposition’s main soapbox, as it had been back in 2013.

It is hypothetical of course, but imagine if you will for a moment that a French cabinet member responsible for some of the biggest sales of national assets and infrastructure deals with the private sector had been caught with his pants down owning a company in Panama that had been set up in the wake of the last election.

Imagine that minister had simply been cosmetically stripped of his portfolio but continued carrying out practically the exact same functions as before and had been simply made to stand down as deputy leader of the party in government.

Imagine that minister was reappointed to Cabinet after an election and was put in charge of public private partnerships, the likes for which he had orchestrated over the past legislature and who stands accused of having received kickbacks from such deals.

All this, of course, is hypothetical because we have seen just this week how French politicians react at the mere whiff of a scandal affecting them. But imagine if that French minister and his Prime Minister had been obstinate enough to have presumed to remain in office and had actually been kept on?

One would not be too hard pressed to imagine the French bringing the guillotine back to the streets of Paris.

Heads would certainly have been made to roll - and we have not even mentioned the other hypothetical situation in which a French president’s chief of staff also opened a Panamanian company right after his boss’ election and his appointment, and had been accused of money laundering and taking kickbacks on a controversial scheme that saw the sale of French passports to wealthy Russians, Asians and just about anyone else with a million euros to spare for a European passport.

The Prime Minister can, however, keep such people aboard his ship and sustain any amount of flak from opposing voices because the people have, at the polls, overwhelmingly supported and condoned such antics.

A real change and real political accountability will only be instilled in this, or any other, country when the people demand it. The opposition has failed miserably on that score over this last election campaign.

It is not until the people begin to demand more of their politicians that politicians will deliver and set themselves higher standards.