I will not rush into pointing fingers at any individuals who might be responsible for the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. It is an abominable act perpetrated and paid for by individuals who do not have any regard for freedom of expression or democracy to say the least, nor for any threat to their secret, illegal means of earning substantial amounts of money. Her murder is an affront to democracy and freedom of speech by those who flourish in the dark shadows of life and our country will not be the same without her investigating ardour. It has to be a condemned act all round but it also raises questions about our government.

For some time now, the absence or deficiency of the state, perceived or otherwise, to defend the common man and the rule of law has been felt lacking, since Labour came to power in fact. Doubt has crept in, in increasing amounts as the strength of our constitutional safeguards to defend the common man’s individual liberties and rights are being constantly eroded. The constant promotion of lackeys to head positions in government rather than people of character. The constitutional posts and government bodies filled with people who are more interested in servile money earning than listening to their conscience and doing their job properly. All this has given the correct impression that state institutions are there to protect the government and its cronies rather the man in the street.

Added to this is the government’s propensity to not act when wrongdoing or shady dealings are perpetrated by employees with Labour leanings in the civil service. The accepted praxis of asking these high-ranking individuals to step down until their name is cleared has been discarded. Instead, these individuals often with serious allegations and court cases for alleged wrongdoing, are publicly defended or even promoted by their political masters and those elected by us to minister to the common good. Instead, the impression given is that even where there are serious accusations, the state’s politicians are helping to condone the positions of their underlings if not to praise them. All this gives the impression that the state is in concord with organised criminality and activity even if this may not be a proven fact. To make matters worse, appointments to public positions of trust are abusively given to persons of poor performance and character just because of their political voting preferences. Besides this, people who support Labour in the civil services are allowed to do whatever they like with impunity to the chagrin of others.

Maybe we ought all to learn a lesson here. We need to change our infantile and parochial mentality and be more serious in the way we dispense the power entrusted to us. The state needs to be more careful in how it deals with cases of reported anomalous behaviour and how it hands out promotions to individuals. We need to seriously review the way that promotions and public appointments or disciplinary cases are handled and create a more transparent and multi-partisan system in how these appointments are dished out. The state needs to not only act correctly but also seen to act correctly. Otherwise, in the absence of this, citizens may feel that the state is not there for everyone, that the state only takes care of those of the same political affiliation as its elected masters or even worse, that corruption is seen as acceptable to get ahead in employment and business. We are at this latter stage now where there is a cloud over the functioning of the state and its institutions. I hope that the death of Daphne Caruana Galizia would at least not have been in vain if it would have served for every politician to wake up and look carefully at the condescending attitudes around them!

We need to not only take things more seriously but also show that they are being done more seriously. I offer my profound condolences to her family and colleagues; I hope that her death will fill us all with a renewed fervour for what is good, what is right rather than what is expedient and a more profound commitment to what we perceive to be the truth! The time has come for all of us to reconsider our condescending positions in life! Failing that, our moral machinations as a nation will remain at an adolescent early stage of development and never reach maturity.

 

Dr Asciak is Senior Lecturer II in the Institute of Applied Science at MCAST