Political history has always had individuals who wielded power behind the throne, and Malta is no different. Borg Olivier had Edgar Mizzi. Mizzi switched sides in 1971 and became Mintoff’s right hand man. Eddie Fenech Adami appointed Richard Cachia Caruana, as his chief-of-staff who was considered to be even more powerful than some cabinet ministers.

Joseph Muscat decided to appoint as his chief-of-staff, Keith Schembri who, under the Nationalists, was one of Malta’s most successful self-acclaimed businessmen.

This brings me to my first question. Why would a successful entrepreneur accept to take the job of chief of staff, with all its pressure and load of work, for a paltry salary of around 40,000 euros?

It is being said that it is Schembri who introduced Brian Tonna of Nexia BT to the Prime Minister, thus opening the door for Brian Tonna to become part of the inner sanctum at Castile. This is why I find the statement made by the Prime Minister that he does not know what Tonna’s job is at Castile very strange, to say the least. In his position, Mr. Tonna ended up wielding great power to the extent that cabinet ministers have started to refer to him as il-Ministru Tonna.

Until the Panamagate scandal broke out, Brian Tonna was relatively unknown to the general public, except to those who required assistance from within political circles. These were referred to him with the result that it was not unknown for Mr Tonna to act as a go between for Labourites who thought that they were not being served by government bureaucracy, if not in fact being discriminated against.

Panamagate has revealed some disturbing details about Mr Tonna’s modus operandi. Mr Tonna was the person who advised Minister Mizzi to open his account in Panama and a Trust in New Zealand.  Through his company Nexia BT, Mr Tonna is also the person behind similar operations carried out on behalf of the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Schembri. 

Holding information about the accounts of individuals explains why Mr Tonna has ended up wielding such power in Castile. Yet, the exposure of the Panama scandal has thrown the whole system into crisis. The admissions made by Minister Mizzi himself followed by those made by the PM, leave much to be desired. 

Minister Mizzi not only admitted that Mr Tonna did the work for him but also that he paid Mr Tonna for the work and Mr Tonna issued VAT receipts. Unfortunately, up to the time of writing this blog, Minister Mizzi has failed to produce the VAT receipts, which he promised to make public. Let us hope that the VAT department is doing its job by investigating in the same manner that it deals with the much smaller businessman or businesswoman when similar news go public on VAT issues.

Minister Mizzi has admitted to having broken Maltese law and the Prime Minister has come to his rescue stating that this was not that important because Minister Mizzi has paid the fine. However the PM corrected himself the next day stating that the fine still needs to be established!  Does Dr Muscat, in all sincerity, believe that in so doing, he has given Mizzi absolution for any wrongdoing and its now business as usual?  When a minister admits to having broken the law, then there is no other solution but to submit his resignation. 

Dr Mizzi has also opined that he was given the wrong advice because of a law he was not aware of and was so old that it escaped his attention. Indeed, all the players involved in this debacle ought to know the old dictum ignorantia legis neminem excusat (ignorance of law excuses no one).

But there is even more to all this than amateurism. The MFSA should establish whether Mr Tonna has also broken the law and if yes, it should withdraw his warrant and operating licence. The law should be equal for everyone. There are individuals who committed far less errors or ventured into less serious crimes who are being prosecuted. Joe Sammut is a case in point.

Lest we forget there have been Labour politicians who have been removed by Muscat for much lesser serious offences. Anglu Farrugia was sacked for his comment on a magistrate (no freedom of speech here). Godfrey Farrugia, the then Minister of Health was ousted out of Cabinet for putting up a tent outside Mater Dei. Minister Manuel Mallia was asked to leave for an incident involving his chauffeur and Michael Falzon was sacked for signing the Gaffarena deal after relying on the estimates made by Architect Spiteri. Why should Minister Konrad Mizzi not go too?

At least, both the Malta Independent and The Times are starting to put Brian Tonna under the spotlight and it seems that Castile has every interest to defend him for he knows too much. But to carry on defending the indefensible smacks of poor political acumen and reeks of outright corruption.