John Dalli will today face the mandatory grilling from three parliamentary committees in his bid to be approved as a European Commissioner.
Make no mistake, this is no walk in the park. Anyone who thinks Maltese politicians are wily enough to sail through this grilling is mistaken. The committees take the grilling to extremes, pushing and probing for any sign of weakness – whether it is moral, ethical, commercially motivated and even simply related backbone.
Mr Dalli will be tested like he has never been tested before. He has already replied in writing to a set of questions put to him and he seems to have done his homework. But what awaits him today is a whole different ball game.
Mr Dalli has been nominated for the post of Health and Consumer Policy, which is one of the more ‘hefty’ commission offices. It is good to see that, like his predecessor Joe Borg, Mr Dalli will be given an area of responsibility which carries a good weight.
One hopes that Jose Manuel Barroso’s first choice commission gets the nod, as we would not like to see a repeat of 2004, given the current fragile state of confidence in general. The parliamentary committees may only accept or reject a Commission representation as a whole and cannot pick and chose between individuals. The last commission hearing (in 2004) threw the EU into turbulent waters after the nomination of Italy’s Rocco Buttiglione was not met with any enthusiasm whatsoever after he said, during the grilling session, that it was his belief that homosexuality was a “sin”.
Needless to say, the whole commission had to be reshuffled and Buttiglione was replaced, along with Latvia’s disputed nominee Ingrida Udre. So, it is clear that passing this test is no easy feat. Of course, Mr Dalli has the political pedigree and years of experience to overcome the challenge.
He is sure to be quizzed about his involvement in business and commercial activity, but he has already declared that he is well in line with the criteria necessary to become a European Commissioner.
Mr Dalli is no stranger to controversy. His no nonsense attitude and blunt way of putting things have caused stirs in the past, but he has more often than not come out as being correct in the end.
His political career had stalled after he was ‘made to resign’ due to allegations of corruption. But various investigations, including a rigorous police one, which led to a person being convicted for fabricating a report, found that Mr Dalli had acted correctly. Mr Dalli, as he had maintained all along, was cleared of any cloud of corruption and was brought back into the cabinet fold.
He was given the post of Health and Social Policy Minister, and had in the past held the posts of Finance Minister and Foreign Minister, while earlier in his career he had administered parliamentary secretariats.
To come back after the body blows he has taken, Mr Dalli has demonstrated great determination and character, an attitude which he has always faced politics with. We trust that he will ‘pass the test’ and that he will go on to do a great job in his post.
But of course, it does not all depend on Mr Dalli. All it takes is one slip of the tongue, one risqué remark, one contentious answer – and it could all unravel. We will find out later today.