At the time of going to print, the two judges who are currently involved in scandals – one in his capacity as Malta Olympic Committee, and the other as a senior member of the judiciary – had not yet handed in their resignation.

It echoes horribly of the years when Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami roused the country from its summer slumber and announced that Chief Justice (at the time) Noel Arrigo and Judge Patrick Vella were charged – and eventually found guilty – of corruption.

At the time, Dr Fenech Adami was lambasted by lawyers in court for having violated the rights of the two accused. But time has proven him right. It has been the media that has been on the ball with the last two cases, although both came out of the blue.

Now, following a recommendation (which was labelled illegal – but that’s another story) by the Ombudsman to relieve the two judges, a call by the PN for their resignation and a threat by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to have them impeached – it is amply clear that Dr Fenech Adami had done the right thing in making an announcement to the nation.

As soon as he morosely said the words on television, the nation knew that the situation was under control and that the Prime Minister and the Government had the matter in hand and that all was being investigated.

This time, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi – perhaps due to other commitments abroad, held back and allowed the two judges time to consider hanging in their resignation. So far, they have not. We understand Dr Gonzi’s position. This is a growing democracy and people are expected to “do the right thing”. We agree. Even if to seek to clear their name, the two judges should step aside with immediate effect and allow the country to try to regain faith in the institution. The last scandal took place 10 years ago – in 2002.

But what a whirlwind three months it has been and how it has shaken confidence. First we saw allegations emerge against John Dalli in terms of failing to report an alleged illegal approach as a European Commissioner.  Silvio Zammit, the man alleged to have approached him has been charged and testimony is now emerging.

There was also the case of former Malta international footballer Kevin Sammit who was banned life for attempting to throw a Euro2008 qualifying match in 2007. Even scandals from a year back are coming back to haunt us as former Sliema mayor Nikki Dimech has decided to appeal the ruling against him for taking backhanders while in office. It truly has been an ugly time. Of course, as our Constitution tells us, people are innocent until proven guilty and it should always be so.

But for the sake of confidence in the nation’s institutions, people should have the moral fibre to resign. It is not good to cling to such positions when allegations such as those made are hanging over the country.

As always, there is no culture of resignations. We believe that the judges should resign for the sake of the nation’s confidence in the institutions, as well as for their own.