A bill recently presented in Parliament with much fanfare was the one regarding the Protection of the Whistleblower. Apart from a few added frills, it’s almost identical to a bill presented in the last parliament which, sadly, did not make it through the entire parliamentary process to become law. Maybe, had the then Opposition not wasted everyone’s time presenting motions intended to do little more than test the government’s parliamentary majority, a Whistleblower Act would have been on the country's statute books much earlier.

The Nationalist Opposition has already said it will vote in favour of the Whistleblower Bill. Just as when, last May, we voted in favour of a 2013 budget that was largely copied from the one presented by the Nationalist government in November 2012, we will have no problem supporting a proposal that was originally ours.

Which is not to say that the approaches of the two parties when it comes to combating corruption are identical. The Nationalist Party’s track record is about taking comprehensive measures, ensuring that vigilance is maintained over time and being as innovative as the wrong-doers when it comes to developing counter-measures. On the other hand, Joseph Muscat – whose administration is barely five months old and already out of steam and out of ideas – has presented the Whistleblower Bill as the be-all and end-all in the fight against corruption.

Good luck with that. He will really need it, considering that the official description of the Bill is: “To make provision for procedures in terms of which employees in both the private sector and the public administration may disclose information regarding improper practices by their employers or other employees in the employ of their employers and to protect employees who make said disclosures from detrimental action”. The Prime Minister seems to have a very wrong impression of what the Bill is, or perhaps propaganda needs dictate its presentation in a certain way.

There is no silver bullet in the fight against corruption. The Nationalist Party knows this, having, in its time in office, enacted legislation which set up the offices of the Ombudsman and Auditor-General as independent of the government, the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (chaired by an Opposition MP), the Permanent Commission against Corruption and Acts on Freedom of Information and Money Laundering, to mention but a few examples.

But prevention, as in many other instances, is better than cure. And even here the current government is failing. One way of preventing corruption is to ensure that the government processes are transparent and open to scrutiny. Labour, which only a few years back made such a fuss about the tendering process for a single electricity generator, is now busy cutting corners on a long-term agreement for power generated by an entire power station.

Amongst other things, the usual procedure was bypassed and ad hoc bodies were created. In order to prevent from this becoming a cornucopia of abuse, the Nationalist Opposition presented a motion asking that appeals be heard by the Public Procurement Appeals Board. This board has been established for years through legislation and hears all other instances of appeal on decisions regarding major government procurement.

The motion was defeated. The government gave no reason as to why an ad hoc appeals board was needed or why it needs more extensive powers than the Public Procurement Appeals Board, such as the power to refuse to offer a remedy to an appellant. The government is still to provide a compelling reason for deciding to give itself leave from an established, standard procedure.

Not even with the Ministerial Declaration of Assets – another measure introduced by the Nationalist Party years ago – has the government been able to rise to the occasion. The government, which has already shown in what contempt it holds the Ministerial Code of Ethics, allowed the declarations to be published with significant delay – conveniently timed with Parliament rising for recess.

You would be forgiven for thinking that use was made of the delay to come up with declarations that are sound and that show that whatever the members of cabinet do is above board. What we got is not even remotely believable.

More than one Minister forgot to include his annual income in the declaration. One of them even keeps half a million euros in cash at home, probably to have some spare change with which to pay the deliveryman who brings the gas cylinders. Other Ministers declared incomes of a few thousands but then, surprisingly enough and sub-prime crisis notwithstanding, banks generously loaned them sums running into quite a few hundreds of thousands.

No one is saying – or implying – that the Ministers are corrupt simply because of the credibility of these declarations. But it does show that, media opportunities apart, the new Labour Government is not as transparent as it should be and it is not serious in wanting to fight and prevent corruption, whether real or perceived, whether actual or simply a risk.

Clyde Puli is a Nationalist Party Member of Parliament