Tomorrow, thousands in Malta and millions of people around the world will celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. This event brings joy and a new beginning to many. The birth of this Baby saw the beginning of a revolution by far much more important and significant to mankind than any other. At the age of thirty three He was heavily vilified and later crucified by his own people. But that event, rather than an end, marked the beginning of an era.
What He started went through challenging stages during the passage of time and is still being confronted with new challenges. The first leader of the church, Apostle Peter, shouldered many burdens and had many hurdles to overcome. He succeeded. Today, the Church is headed by Pope Francis who came to the rescue. From Argentina, the second largest Latin American country, he brought a breath of fresh air to the Church. His humility, his concern for the poor and his commitment to dialogue with various categories of people within different societies has earned him the necessary respect to be able to begin to adjust and take new challenges without compromising the Church teachings. With his affection, he has managed to touch the hearts of people who were either lukewarm or growing indifferent towards the Church. Some have even turned completely cold. This is confirmed by the decrease in the number of those participating and attending Mass on Sunday or Saturday evening. People my age or older can confirm the significant downward shift. Many people within various societies, including ours, became more affluent and gained the opportunity to learn more than basic writing and reading skills. Subsequently people became more inquisitive and could not find answers in the Church teachings. This resulted in many to become indifferent to the Church.
The values and the morals introduced by the birth of Baby Jesus are not a ‘pick and choose’ from an a la carte menu. It is by far more than that. It gives values and sound guidelines to individuals and societies. Those who, for some reason or other, fail to abide by the Church’s teachings at any time can ask for forgiveness and safely return to within its folds. This will ensure a new lease of life after we pass on to another life. This sounds nice to many but may not be enough.
But during the passage of time, societies have also faced different challenges and, since time immemorial, people have instituted Lady Justice to seek and make justice. At times Lady Justice lynched, guillotined, tortured and jailed people for reasons which are difficult to grasp today. Lady Justice passed judgements as she deemed fit. At times to calm-down the mob; at others to send a strong warning message to people.
Lady Justice has often been depicted in law courts as wearing a blindfold. The blindfold represents objectivity, in that justice is meted out without fear or favour, regardless of identity, money, power, or weakness. The personification of justice is shown with Lady Justice holding a double-edge sword in one hand and with a set of suspended scales in the other.
During the Christmas’ reception rounds I have met many who have already passed judgement on those allegedly involved in the Enemalta fuel procurement debacle.
Like many, I have followed news from the Public Accounts Committee hearings. The proceedings are undoubtedly best described as the opening of a can, a large can of worms. Notwithstanding this, I am not the least surprised with the revelations. Our community is not spared from the alleged fraudulent activity. Let me be clear. I do not pardon the alleged actions which at face value may be labelled as institutionalised corruption, but I would not rush to pass judgement before all evidence is heard. Even when this is exhausted, I will leave judgement in the hands of our judiciary system which has the authority and responsibility to deal with alleged cases of corruption with fairness and firmness. This should ensure that the checks and balances are working and all citizens, irrespective of their status in society, are equal in the masked eyes of our judiciary system.
From what has been reported, it seems that the ongoing alleged oil scandal saga have not as yet reached the highest point. Fuelled further by loaded media reports, society will continue to lose trust in the hierarchical structures that are in place and expected to safeguard the common good. The sooner this issue is over, the better it would be for our society.
The wide range of gifts mentioned in the PAC may be perceived as alarming. I might be wrong but, putting aside for a moment the code of ethics which is applicable to all public officers which is clear enough, what needs to be established is whether these gifts were donations with good intentions or whether these were in exchange for a blind eye in the fuels procurement process.
Thankfully, notwithstanding that our judiciary at times dips into boiling hot water, it has managed to withstand the test of time and has weathered storms and hurricanes. Once again our judiciary system is standing tall and has earned and gained the necessary levels of trust and confidence from society. It must now patiently untangle this intertwined net and pass judgement on facts rather than on public perceptions.
I have full confidence and trust in the judicial proceedings. Our judiciary system was, until now, able to take all sorts of decisions irrespective of the person sitting in the dock. This time it should not be any different. Like many, I have been hearing rumours of institutionalised corruption since the early 70s. We all know that those who, for one reason or another, failed to abide by the rules as laid down in the book will be booked and processed in a fair hearing at our Law Courts. This is one of the basic principles in a democracy despite the fact that, in rare cases, justice is miscarried. The law of the land is supreme. Take away the rule of law and you will find yourself in a dictatorship wherein from time to time people simply vanish.
The string of allegations made by the star witness, who has received a presidential pardon to turn state evidence in the lubrication of the procurement of fuels, has indicated too many people from the business community, the political class and the politically appointed. This is a major cause for concern to many Maltese. This is also severely denting the credibility and transparency credentials of Malta with foreign investors seeking to set up operation here. This does not augur well at all. As if this was not enough, this comes at a time when a Magistrate steals the media headlines as he struggles with the rest of society to be allowed to have a drink in his court room, not in session, for Christmas. In the process, a reporter was arrested for trying to inform the public about the party! Well, Lady Justice sometimes slips on the skin of a banana.
Happy Christmas to all.
Gejtu Vella
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