The Covid-19 vaccine has given us hope and we are all looking forward to seeing how this will affect our lives in the early months of 2021. And although the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are eager to be seen in beautiful photos next to the first frontliners taking the vaccine in Malta and Gozo, we must remember that we would not be in this privileged position had it not been for the European Union.

When we really, really needed the European Union, it did not let us down. It delivered what it promised: that although a small state, we are to be treated equally, like all the others. That solidarity will prevail. That health may be a matter of national competence but, if and when needed, we would be able to use the power of the Union to obtain what we would not be able to afford on our own.

Therefore, I think it is appropriate for us to remember and thank the people who made all this possible. Above all, Eddie Fenech Adami and Guido De Marco, who had the foresight of true politicians who love their country and who knew how being in the European Union would make all the difference.

Of course, none of this would have really happened without the hard work of so many others — but we owe absolutely no thanks to Alfred Sant and Joseph Muscat or anybody within the Labour Party for that matter.

So, for any Labour MP to feel all emotional about it and proud right now is simply not on. At least they should have the grace to be thankful to those who tried to make them see reason and acknowledge that they were wrong. Alas, it’s not just the Covid.

This year did not just bring with it the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic. The cleansing exercise which the crowds in Valletta started in 2019 is far from over.

Joseph Muscat may no longer be the Prime Minister of this country, but Malta’s full and true catharsis has yet to take place.

The events of the past few days are once again a stark reminder of how bad things are for our country. The question remains: Is this ever going to end?

Just before Christmas, Minister Byron Camilleri, on behalf of the Government of Malta, issued a legal notice regarding citizenship and the ability to keep names secret — which in itself was illegal because it goes against the same law which regulates citizenship in Malta.

The law clearly stipulates that the names of persons who acquire Maltese Citizenship must be made public. At no point does it give the Minister (in this case Byron Camilleri or Parliamentary Secretary Alex Muscat) the right or power to keep these names secret. Quite the contrary.

This legal notice made nonsense of all the big talk about transparency, good governance and the rule of law, which Prime Minister Abela was trying so hard to make us all digest. Of course, none of us bought it. We knew it would only be a matter of time before we had evidence to the contrary. And there you are.

It had to be the Opposition to stop the Government from breaking the law. The PR issued on Wednesday afternoon to reverse this decision which was signed by Parliamentary Secretary Alex Muscat. This is symptomatic of a government run by evidently inexperienced politicians who have no idea what good governance truly means.

Hours before the original story of the legal notice on citizenship surfaced, the Prime Minister admitted to having interfered in matters which should have been handled exclusively by the tax chief: the Opposition leader’s tax affairs.

After a long period in which he ignored questions by the media on this issue, Abela decided to visit the Karin Grech memorial at night, only to tell us that he did not interfere but he merely “informed”.

It takes some cheek to say that, and to say that in front of that particular monument. Bernard Grech is Karin Grech’s cousin.

He was quick to hit back at the Prime Minister and challenged him to make public his own VAT and Tax Returns.

The footage of the Prime Minister at the foot of the Karin Grech monument shows how very uncomfortable he is when facing questions by the media.

Let’s be clear. Anywhere else in the free world, a prime minister who tries to use his office to interfere in a democratic process, such as the leadership election of the Opposition party, would have to resign.

If this results to be true in our case, and Abela’s own admission is indicating exactly that, isn’t this yet another slap in the face to all the efforts to try to prove that the Venice Commission’s concerns on Malta’s rule of law are wrong?

Something tells me our Prime Minister has no intention of letting this clear abuse of power stand in his way. After all, this is not much of a scandal when compared to Joseph Muscat’s scandals. And Abela did promise “continuity”.

Abela can always thank Covid. Had it not been for the health restrictions of social distancing and the illegality of gathering in large groups, civil society would once again be out in the streets protesting against the Prime Minister’s abuse of power and the illegal legal notice.

What a year. We’re finally seeing the back of it. When is the rest really going to end?