We are just coming to the close of the sixth week of the electoral campaign and if this week is anything to go by, the remaining three weeks will be characterised by corruption allegations.
At present, there are two scandals unfolding. That of the oil procurement kickbacks, and that relating to claims of undue pressure on the Police Corps to stay charges.
The first sees IT Minister Austin Gatt under scrutiny for what the Labour Party alleges could be tantamount to corruption and taking commission for oil procurement agreements, through a middle man.
Toni Abela, on the other hand, is being accused of exerting undue pressure on a Labour leaning police officer in a police investigation.
As it turns out, in the former case, Dr Gatt has invited the Police Commissioner to investigate his Swiss bank account, in an effort to sweep aside any doubts. The Prime Minister has also asked the Commissioner to investigate and to get to the bottom of the matter before the General Election.
Toni Abela, on the other hand, has gone on the record and said that the police believe that there is no evidence to suggest that any action be taken against him. Yet, at the same time, another audio clip was uploaded to Youtube, claiming that he knew of a cocaine deal that went down in a Labour Party club.
It gets to the point where you want to throw you hands up in the air and give up. It seems quite clear, in both cases, that the ‘protagonists’ – as they are being portrayed – have not done anything wrong, but are being implicated in a series of events that probably go beyond what anyone imagines.
True, it is the duty of all to expose corruption and wrong-doing. But we have to ask the question – why now? It is clear that both the parties are trying to get as much political mileage as possible out of the spun stories.
But while the two parties are engaging in a credibility battle, the real issues are getting lost. We are currently in a situation where it is literally a case of “believe us, because watch this clip (or look at this email screenshot)”.
All the while, the general public should be focusing on who is going to take us into the next legislature and the upcoming allocation of the EU budget for a seven-year period. We should be looking at how we are going to continue to churn out relevant graduates and find them well paid and secured work. We should be focusing on the creation of jobs and keeping our finances sound – within the European criteria. But no. We focus on matters that are close to home and ‘shocking’. We should be looking at the bigger picture – choosing the team which will govern this country in what is, perhaps, one of the most challenging periods in Malta’s history. Let us see what weeks 7,8 and 9 bring us. Probably, it will be more of the same; alternating between gimmicks, promises and more mud-slinging. Three weeks to go folks, watch this space.