I am writing at a corner table in one of the coffee shops at the Malta International Airport. People are restless, pacing to and fro the departure and the arrival lounges. It’s Sunday late in the evening; it is a bit baffling. People are milling around. Some look anxious and fidgety. Others seem deeply relieved. Some are sporting big smiles on their faces.
Thousands of people making use of our airport experience different emotions. I would imagine that the absolute majority of travellers experience pleasant feelings, others perhaps less so, and hopefully only a small number associate the airport with a heavy heart.
On arrival, immediately after placing well in a song festival, sport activity or any other imaginable achievement, our jubilant protagonists are welcomed with hugs, kisses, flowers and cheering crowds. Tears of joy run freely on many faces.
But at the departure lounge the scene is at times different, particularly when people are forced to say goodbye to loved ones because a relative has to fly to another country for medical treatment, or some other equally sad occasion. Those goodbyes must be hard as tears stream down.
At the airport, people cry for different reasons.
This evening here at the airport, the conversation is about the Joseph/Konrad/Keith Panama scandal. Waving goodbye to Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri should not give anyone any pleasure. Their departure is now long overdue. Cleaning Malta’s reputation and credibility has become urgent business. Malta is making world-wide news for the wrong reasons. It is not the government which is at stake. It is Malta’s reputation, economy, employment and quality of life which are being put at risk.
Many have expressed their concerns about the Panama Papers scandal, albeit from different angles. Irrespective of the different roles and duties that the various national institutions, Church authorities and constituted bodies carry in our society, they all have arrived at one converging point on the Panama Papers scandal. The bottom line is that heads should roll. Heads should have rolled long ago.
It is amply clear that both gentlemen, holding senior positions in a relatively young government, should have known better. Their secretive bank accounts have put the PM in a very awkward position and have tarnished Malta’s financial institutions’ credibility. Badly. With his indecision and no concrete action, the PM is risking mutiny. Minister Mizzi and Chief of Staff Schembri and their Panama secret trusts have triggered a seven week long crisis for Muscat's government. The PM made every effort to play down the scandal, but this has now grown into an international scandal with very serious implications.
It is despicable that the relatively young Minister, with a wide-ranging ministerial portfolio, saw nothing wrong in setting up a shell company registered in Panama, contained within a trust in New Zealand and wanted to open an account in Dubai, according to fresh revelations. Being naïve is no excuse. Political correctness and high ethical standards are expected from those who are called to serve fellow countrymen.
The Minister should have walked the walk of shame on the same day the scandal broke. He could have saved, to an extent, his face and avoided being sent off by the PM. This would have saved further embarrassment to the PM, and could have spared Malta’s financial institutions from world-wide unnecessary flack. Until Mr Mizzi has put his foot in the financial sector, it had provided lucrative salary packages for thousands of workers and accord amongst all players in the sector.
The recent Panama Papers scandal has shocked people around the world and gone viral like some highly contagious infection. This scandal has created a political catastrophe that has rocked the world and indeed Malta. People across the globe, including Malta, have taken to the streets to show their disgust and anger at their political leaders involved in the scandal.
The repeated calls for the resignations of Minister Mizzi and the PM’s personal assistant Mr Schembri have, as yet, gone unnoticed by the PM. The departure of these two public officials should not feel like any kind of victory. Indeed, their resignation would make good news, but there is so much more to put right in this country in terms of political correctness.
More drastic changes are necessary if the Prime Minister saw nothing wrong in what Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri did. This is indicative of deep-seated roots that need to be pulled out.
Sorry, but I have to leave you here.
The announcement call has just been made. Flight KM-KS@€92 to Panama is now boarding. The hassle and bustle of the crowds is getting louder. I am trying to push my way through the crowds with great difficulty. They have arrived. Konrad and Keith are in their Panama summer suits with garlands around their necks. Some cry with joy, others with despair.
Last call - Passengers on Flight KM-KS@€92 to Panama are to proceed to gate “BARRA” immediately. The last goodbyes are exchanged. The PM announces that both have been decreed “Suldati ta’ l-Azzar of the PL”. Konrad and Keith are escorted by the airline stewards!!
Let’s hope that this bad experience is the last that Malta will be dragged through by our serving and future politicians.
Malta deserves better.
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