Recent events, some sub judice and others less known, have once again underscored what is fast becoming a potential cesspit of corruption no government can afford, let alone one in pre-election year.

Governing a country has never been easy but over the past years it has become particularly complex and spread out, with checks and counterchecks, previously unknown, being introduced, with power devolved and, to boot, the necessary introduction of technical developments which necessitate the involvement of technical experts, some of who may not have either the accountability of the elected or the ethics of people in the public eye.

The consequences are all around us if we care to see them.

In the days when ministers were everything and all permits had to pass through their hands, it was easy to perceive that such power inevitably would lead (as it indeed did) to corruption.

Today, power has been devolved, to the civil service, to the various authorities, to the many intermediate focal points of power. It does not mean that there are no vestiges of the past systems of corruption, albeit they are well hidden from view today.

But it also means there are now new sources of power, new gate-keepers, thus new places where the ordinary citizen can be blocked or made to pay.

There are also far more funds being thrown around – whether it is government funds, or funds for a specific purpose, yet lightly regulated by the government and not at all according to general government practice, as well as EU funds, though these have a very strong regulatory framework which requires much paperwork and red tape.

So while the ministers are now more strictly accountable – they have to submit a yearly statement of accounts, and so on – the people around them, on who they depend for their assistance and possibly also technical help, are not. And given these would mainly be political appointees, they soon form a club of sorts inside each ministry and generally throw their weight around with their minister’s full consent.

Here lies the rub. For all ethical commitments and code of ethics lists, even if well-enforced, come to naught in the daily cut and thrust of governing the country.

Then, too, there is the country at large, made up, in this regard, of so many who will not allow such considerations as ethics quench their get-rich-quick thirst. This is a country where corruption, of the petty kind, not necessarily the enormous kind, is an everyday affair, and endemic – from football to development applications, to the holy of holies, government contracts in the wider sense of the word.

On 15 August 2002, when the judges case broke, Dr Sant had written an article in l-orizzont, “Kif wasalna sa hawn?” (How did we get here?). Indeed, how did we get there? But then there is another question to ask: What can be done? What can be done to remove the aura of corruption around anything touching the government?

It is not enough to have, as we do, two men of integrity heading the two parties. Nor are ethical guidelines enough. Nor is it enough to act fast and responsibly whenever and wherever there is a sniff of corruption, although that is important and, in a sense, a real novelty. It is perhaps more important to realise that what surfaces is only the tip of the iceberg and thus beef up enough surveillance and checks to ensure that the common perception that people are able to get away with anything is removed once and for all. For anyone can be tempted, for instance, to tamper with the electricity meter as long as one is rest assured that no checks are ever carried out. And ditto on VAT or Income Tax returns.

But at the same time, the eyes of those in power must be open and vigilant: the lifestyle above all, the easy connections one notices between people in particular positions and people with money, the way contracts are given out, the amazing and noiselessly resounding sound of no controversy, no scandal or allegation of scandal coming from quarters where one would expect a scandal or allegation of same every minute.

A word of warning: the Labour spin is that it will provide a far more ethical government. Since it will be made up of human beings, it will be as exposed as this one to the perils of the soft underbelly of government, perhaps even more due to its continual reliance on ministers instead of the many authorities. And one may also construe the eagerness of the young Labour bloods to grab power as just one more push to get to the trough.

There are no quick fixes in today’s world. The more complex our world is, the more its complexities can be turned to private gain. Unless there is, as always, eternal vigilance. And people in power do not compromise with corruption, whatever the cost.