This seems to be a year for cleaning up one’s acts with financial fair play and transparency being tackled in various European institutions. Strange as it seems, these matters are bringing out similarities between football and politics – at least in the context of financial regulations. What Europe’s football governing body, UEFA, is currently doing is actively looking at financial fair play in the game. It is currently implementing a system whereby club finances are made, among other things, more accountable and transparent. This fine initiative is trickling down into various European countries and has also reached our shores. The Malta Football Association is currently in the process of formulating its own financial fair play policies and these will soon be implemented. Coupled with this, the MFA is also organising a drive against corruption through seminars and lectures that are being organised and delivered in a professional manner by the Association. The idea behind this effort is to slowly but surely change the perception of Maltese football and subsequently the attitude of the general public towards this popular sport.

Unfortunately, just like football, the perception of politics in Malta is that it is riddled with corruption. As a young politician, I am interested in clean politics and wish to work towards reinstating our people’s faith in politics and politicians. In my quest, I have been helped in no small way by the PL’s recent efforts that have to date produced two new laws and one white paper. The Whistleblower’s Act empowers each and every citizen and permits them to help bring corrupt officials to justice. This is a far cry from the way things have been done in the past. We are no longer powerless in the face of corruption and malpractices. Furthermore, no longer can corrupt politicians benefit from the passage of time as corruption cases can no longer be time-barred. This was a brave decision as it is aimed at all politicians no matter what political colour or creed.

The third bold initiative is currently in the latter phases of its gestation period. Discussions on the proposals regarding party finances are currently underway and we should have a new law within a short period of time. With the implementation of this law, large single donations and shady deals (or special ‘loans’) will become a thing of the past. The long-term implications of such an action are huge. No longer can large contractors and/or other companies expect favours in return for funding one party or another. Once again, by implementing this law the PL will be paving a clean and transparent path towards party financing. What I find perplexing is that the main principles of this white paper are based on a private member’s bill that Dr Franco Debono put forward on a number of occasions but which the Gonzi administration failed to act on.

These acts are not being created in a vacuum. In the last months, discussions have been under way with the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) and there was general agreement from their side with what is being proposed by the Maltese government. When researching this matter, I was shocked to realise that Malta is only one of two European countries that does not have legislation aimed at keeping party financing under some form of control. The other country, believe it or not, is Albania! For some strange reason, our gallant Nationalist MEPs never sought to rectify this highly embarrassing and potentially harming situation. It was perfectly acceptable to them for their beloved Malta to be (rightly) perceived by fellow Europeans as a place where the financing of political parties is totally unregularised and therefore open to abuse. No shouting from rooftops to right this wrong and certainly no lobbying to put right this archaic way of financing political parties.

I started with football and will thus end with football. Through the implementation of these three laws, the PL has scored a hat-trick against a PN that is completely clueless and bereft of any forward looking ideas. What did not happen, despite the dire need, in over two decades of Nationalist administration has been implemented in just under a year under Labour.

Miriam Dalli is a Labour Party candidate for the upcoming European parliamentary elections