Way back in the eighties and nineties the term ‘trust’ was associated with the Fenech Adami government and it encapsulated the essence of the optimism of the era. Conversely, trust today stands for corruption and captures the essence of oligarchic rule. Restoring trust in politics will be no easy task but that is exactly what Simon Busuttil has set out to do.

Labour’s annus horribilis

We haven’t seen a quarter of it yet, but the year that started with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s televised kitchen drama is turning out to be his worst, with the pace with which one corruption scandal after another is unearthed being too fast for one to fully digest them. 

The Prime Minister’s theatrical message to the nation on New Year’s Day, and its defence of the Zonqor Point non-American non-university educational institution, seem to have set the tone for other prime ministerial defences yet to come, from the Strada Zekka deals to Panamagate. It is simply surreal!

No wonder, then, that the most recent opinion polls have confirmed the utter disgust of people who earlier on vented their frustration by taking to both the social media and the streets. Three years down the line, people are no longer duped by Muscat’s trickeries, no matter how much he boasts about the country’s economic performance. After all, that is something that has become the expected norm – for if Gonzi remained at the very top of the European table in times of international crisis, why should we not expect our country to do even better in times of prosperity?

A question of trust

The Prime Minister’s distraction therapy no longer works with the man in the street; the rather long honeymoon period enjoyed by this government is over. The decriminalisation of the vilification of religion, the banning of conversion therapy and introduction of gay marriage are issues that should have been discussed on their own merits and not as partisan diversionary tactics to mask the inconvenient truth of a lack of good governance. No amount of mud-slinging and character assassination plots of political opponents can alienate the people from the present string of scandals.

People are now fed up with theatrics and manipulation. They will settle for nothing less than something genuine and authentic. It is a question of trust and, as we well know, society needs trust if it is to thrive. Doubts about the honesty and fairness of institutions only leads to the erosion of this much essential trust.

An institutional crisis

The present crisis is primarily political albeit it runs through the wider spectrum of public administration and society. The recent magisterial mess in the appointment of new members to the judiciary, the appointment of four police commissioners in three years and the four promotions in four weeks for the lieutenant who became commander-in-chief are but a few examples of the politically motivated promotions reserved for those close to the ruling clique.

What is worrying is that the Prime Minister’s response to institutional crises does not lend any credibility to the integrity of public institutions. Parliamentary requests for information about public multi-million euro contracts that are kept secret are met with propagandistic justification of non-disclosure. Disgraced ministers are given a hero’s welcome. A Police chief discovered engaging in shady business while serving in office is simply awarded another lucrative job in the public service. And while paying lip-service to revenge porn victims, government greets a convicted criminal with a pat on the back, promotes him to the Brussels gravy train and assigns him the task of lobbying for the Prime Minister’s choice for the Court of Auditors. No wonder there is no end in sight to this magisterial mess.

Restoring trust in politics is going to take more than paying lip service to good governance.