The main reason corruption and cronyism exist is because they are entirely possible, and because no government wishes to put in place measures that wrest control of certain decisions from cabinet ministers. As a result, the entire system in Malta rests on the hope that cabinet ministers, and more particularly the prime minister, will be decent, moral and sensible people who are not inclined to take a cut on anything or to use sinecures and posts in public office to bribe, arm-twist, persuade or reward their cronies and those from whom they need something.

The absurd situation right now is that it is perfectly legal for the prime minister and his ministers to reward or favour cronies, collaborators and those who render them services with sinecures and appointments to public office, with ambassadorships, positions in state corporations, cars, chauffeurs and large salaries for doing almost nothing. But it shouldn’t be legal. And there is nothing in the law to stop it, because all of these positions are entirely in the gift of members of the government. It is, of course, the perfect recipe for corruption and cronyism.

It has also created a situation in which the winner at a general election literally takes all and is free to run riot for five years until held to account once more by the electorate. There are few control systems in between. The extent of the weakness of our systems of government, and how they depend completely on the moral character of those in government, has been exposed in full over the last three years. Joseph Muscat and his ministers are doing exactly as they please, handing out jobs, favours, contracts and positions in public office to those who are unsuitable and unfit, and nothing can be done to stop it.

With some of these appointments, the damage is limited and they can be removed eventually. But with others, the damage is permanent and the risks are great. The appointment of Anglu Farrugia’s daughter to the bench, as a magistrate, is one of them, and it has helped crystallise public opinion about this disturbing state of affairs that we have taken for granted for far too long. The focus on whether her appointment is in line with the Constitution or not detracts from the real issue that she is being given a job for life, in a position where she can seriously affect the lives of people and the course of justice, purely and simply as a sop to her father, who was given a massive sop himself three years ago. And Caroline Farrugia Frendo’s husband, too, was put on the state payroll, very conveniently in Parliament House, where her father rules the roost. The Opposition, distracted by its focus on matters to do with the law and the Constitution, should instead be pinning the Justice Minister to the wall with a single question: “Exactly why do you want this woman in particular?”

Nobody has asked Owen Bonnici this question, whether in the press or in parliament. But it is the only question that matters because it cuts right to the root of the scandal. This is not about suitability for the bench (though that is an important consideration). This is about the scandalous situation in which members of the government (the prime minister and the Justice Minister) are using a permanent position in high public office to keep the Speaker of the House quiet. This is not merely a favour to him, which would be scandalous enough. This is a favour with intent.

Then we have the situation, which we take as completely normal, in which our cabinet ministers and prime minister travel the world – or at least, its more oppressive and repressive regions – buying, selling and striking deals. Promoting trade and investment is part of their work. But dealing with the specifics is not. That’s for the bureaucrats, the civil servants and the technical people who are on the permanent state payroll. The prime minister and the Minister of Health & Energy should not be striking deals on a mobile app for government services with people in Dubai. There are state corporations to do that. The Tourism Minister and the Transport Minister should not be taking planes out to different parts of the globe trying to sell Air Malta. The national airline’s chairman and chief executive should be doing that. It’s their job. It’s what they’re there for. The government should be represented at the negotiating table not by one cabinet minister, let alone two, but by the state corporation that controls government investments.

Having politicians personally involved in the detail of tenders and deals is, again, a perfect recipe for corruption. Past experience was testament to that and nothing has been done to change the system because politicians like the chance of being personally involved. This government has literally run with it. It’s got so bad that the public and the media are unable to keep tabs on a fraction of what is going on. We look back on the days when a ARRIVA BUS CRASHES was your typical front-page shocker, and we think how little we had, really, to complain about. But the essential point here is that the current system allows politicians to take decisions which, in more sophisticated democracies, would be completely out of their hands. Despite the veneer, our systems of government remain primitive. We are going to have a Dubai-made mobile government app – and beneath it, a government that is the equivalent of a council in a 1950s Puglia town, in which you speak to the minister to get what you want, and in which the minister puts all his friends and family on the public payroll and nothing and nobody can stop him.

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