Indeed, as the heat begins to set in on our lovely island, our home, we are happy and smiling and quick to begin making plans for sunny days out and cleaning the house from the winter debris.

Repairs may be needed and some fresh paint to brighten up the walls again and the old rubbish is thrown out.  Heavy knits are replaced with light and fresh clothing.

Somewhere else, the opposite is happening.  Days are lost in a hazy fog, colours fade and thoughts of the summer heat mean closed doors and windows, blinds come down and curtains are drawn.  The sweat is on.

It is really cruel to expect the good people of Malta and Gozo to enter the summer with this burden of anger and protest and a shadow hanging over their days of rest and relaxation.  Anxiety and sadness have become a part of our daily existence.  What more is expected of them, until the good minister and his colleagues will come to terms with their situation and see that this farce cannot go on any longer?

A brief review of the reactions this past week, from Chris Cardona’s image of the axe man vs Sandokan’s sword, to better late than never Evarist Bartolo, Godfrey Farrugia and Dr Alfred Sant, whilst all the while the good Minister Mizzi bleats his family crusade chant, Chief of Staff Schembri is equally bland and Prime Minister Muscat gets busy doing nothing.

Do they blame us for getting the feeling that all of this is quite schizophrenic?  Muscat preaches his high values and Cardona wields the axe.  All the civilised world is dealing with the fallout of the Panama Papers and our local heroes ride their black horse into the night.  The deputy leaders come and go, like visions of the past floating around and briefly showing up under the glare of the stage lights.  Democracy is under attack again, as is freedom of speech, good governance, transparency and meritocracy. 

There is a complete disorder in which these people interpret reality abnormally.  It is just not normal to think that the public can disassociate the thought of where the money has come from, which requires this elaborate set-up of hidden accounts (open or not) and companies and be tranquil in ignoring the facts that emerge on a daily basis, to agree with the players and their boss, that they have not done anything wrong.  If so, this is extremely disordered thinking and behaviour. 

Who then will right this state of affairs and spare the country more damage and the onset of paranoia?  Everyone has spoken, from radio callers to jostling supporters, union bosses, those who are part of organisations and institutions and ordinary individuals.  The great silence is coming from the very organisations who should have started to deal with the case of the errant minister and the privileged businessman many weeks ago.  That is the Police, the MFSA and the Principal Permanent Secretary and Cabinet Secretary, Mr Mario Cutajar.

Staff employed in the civil service are often called to answer for minor deviations so why shouldn’t the PM and the persons involved in this compromising situation, be brought to account for having caused this embarrassment and disruption to the normal management of the government of Malta?

The people have spoken and they will soon begin to lose patience.  The heat will play its part more effectively than the Commissioner of Police as calls for resignations become louder.  Let anyone who is not up to the job he or she were sworn in to do, make way now.  This country belongs to its citizens and not to a gangland of dynastic rulers.  We have seen enough major crimes perpetrated lately to know that the tentacles reach further than the shores of Malta and Gozo.

Why are we still here, calling and protesting?  If this is what a Labour government means by hitting the ground running, they must be headed in the other direction because we can see no dust rising in their passage.  Are they waiting for the great Oracle to speak?  How is it that they, all, do not grasp the severity of the matter and do something to rid us of this negative publicity? 

Pages and pages of printed and online material on a daily basis, covering the story of the two Maltese members of the government of Joseph Muscat, topics that are trending on top position on Twitter and the internet.  The reason, apart from the topic of the Panama Papers in general, is that for the Prime Minister of Malta it is of remote concern to him, that he is closely linked to all of this and far from gauging the political sentiment.  It is his job to avoid such harmful publicity for Malta and instead he calmly ignores it and catches the next plane to fulfil his duty for Henley and Partners.

Where are the spouses now?  Is their role not a public one now?  What is their view and opinion?  After all, we have waited for a long time to see the result of employing Mrs Sai Mizzi to the Consulate of Shanghai to the tune of €13,000 per month and knowingly or not, she is the reason why the very same trust in New Zealand was created, or so we are told. Does it mean she has no say in the matter or is she comfortable with it?

These are not Victorian times when men would expect women to remain silent and stay out of the family finances and business.  It is just as well that the wives are now well informed of their husband’s worth and ‘family planning’. 

The next years will be crucial for the economy of our island.  Besides the looming threat to the financial services industry courtesy of Mizzi and co., like the rest of the world we also face the negative effect of terrorism on our tourism industry, Airmalta’s uncertainty, the new wave of refugees coming from Libya, the possible exit of Britain from the EU, the end of EU funds to Malta and the contributions we must make, the altering realities for the construction industry and the challenges for the environment and climate change.

To face all this with a discredited government will be quite hard and once again the people will have to pull up their socks and come together to ensure that we work as one country for the good of all.  We refuse to have our well-being placed in the hands of people, even non-elected members, who have been shown to have only their own material interest in mind and the confidence of one man. 

What part of where we are now matches in any way at all with Joseph Muscat’s electoral vision?  If he thought that we the public would follow his every lead and never have an opinion of our own, then this must be his Achilles’ heel.  As we wait with ever more cynicism, for the promised growth, the social benefit, the expansion in foreign relations, the all efficient management and clean government, he may wonder why we cannot behave and be good children. 

Sorry to tell you Mr Prime Minister but you seem to have lost your way.  Time to call in the Rapid Intervention Unit.