Malta’s reputation suffered another humiliating setback yesterday after a European Parliament committee decided that the Labour Party’s deputy leader for party affairs, Toni Abela, is not up to the job of being a member of the European Court of Auditors.

This is the second time in three weeks that Malta has been given the thumbs down after Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri failed an oral examination to become Malta’s second judge in the General Court of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

But more than anything, it is the derogatory terminology used to describe Malta’s candidates that is the most worrying thing to come out of the whole affair. During the grilling, the Dalli case was mentioned, making it amply clear that there is a cloud of suspicion hovering over Malta and its nominees to serve on European Institutions.

The ‘White Block’ case probably did nothing to help Dr Abela’s case, and neither did the fact that his explanation when asked why he should be sitting on the Court of Auditors was simply that he was a lawyer and a former deputy mayor. Was it fair of the Prime Minister to nominate someone to serve such an institution with such scant credentials?

And who could blame EU institutions for having their suspicions? Aside from the above mentioned cases, we have a situation where our country’s Energy Minister and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff are embroiled in a scandal whereby both opened Trusts in New Zealand and subsequently began administering companies in one of the most opaque financial jurisdictions in the world – Panama. A point which was specifically brought up by the committee during Dr Abela’s grilling, and who could have blamed him for passing the buck onto the perpetrators by saying: “If there was any wrongdoing, those who committed it must shoulder the responsibility.”

We have also heard new allegations that the same Mr Schembri made ‘secret payments’ through his company Kasco, to the former Managing Director of Allied Newspapers. Many commentators now believe that each and every person put forward by Malta, against this shady backdrop, will be put through the wringer and the slightest shadow of a doubt will preclude them from holding such posts. Unfortunately, that will not ‘begin’ to happen, it is already happening.

And that brings us to another crucial point. Quo Vadis Labour Party? Despite the pomp and fanfare that trumpeted and heralded the arrival of Konrad Mizzi as deputy leader in-waiting, it seems that the party has a bit of a conundrum to solve. It still has a deputy leader, who despite his no comment today, is unlikely to relinquish his post. That would leave a slightly fidgety Konrad Mizzi waiting in the wings, but for no apparent reason.

Will Dr Mizzi still be made deputy leader? Will they try and kick Dr Abela elsewhere upstairs? Or could the opportunist in Joseph Muscat take this as a blessing in disguise and order Dr Mizzi to stand down and let it all blow away? It seems that the government and the Labour Party are at sixes and sevens. With the Prime Minister away in London, it seems that the party’s machinery cannot get into gear and literally no one knows what is happening, or indeed what is going to happen.

The government of Malta issued a press release yesterday thanking the Socialist and Green members for backing Dr Abela, even though he was turned down by a vote of 17-9, adding that there were elements that were working against its candidate.

We do not agree. The only thing that pushed the rejection of Dr Abela was this government’s blight of allegations of corruption, coupled with the murky behaviour of past appointees to top posts.