With all the usual pomp and fanfare, Robert Abela and Owen Bonnici did somersaults to announce that the extensive land at Zonqor which had been given to the Sadeen venture of the so-called American University of Malta, will now be returned to government.  Leaving behind the usual wreckage, with all the hypocrisy that we have become used to, Abela and Bonnici try to come out of this twisted business as heros. 

Protests held in 2015, led by Simon Busuttil and other NGOs, could foretell the disaster that this project was heralding.  Those with some understanding of Joseph Muscat’s government could immediately sense that there was nothing of benefit to the community of Marsascala and the south, to come out of this deal but actually it was another way of doing business from politics, something that Muscat did thrive in.

With all the usual henchmen behind him, cameras in front of him and clapping hands at the ready, the ceremony was held to inaugurate a fake or short-sighted so-called investment with all the markings of Joseph Muscat on it.

Now Minister Owen Bonnici stands and declares that with some kind of Knights of St John intervention, the land has been reclaimed and won back for the people.  As heard in the grapevine, in compensation the Sadeen group would receive land at Smart City. 

Every political act is an act of hypocrisy, from Joseph Muscat’s regime and maintained to form by Robert Abela. 

From the parliamentary rejection of the PN Bill in favour of good governance and the fight against corruption and other crime, to the court cases of libel that were dropped when persons at the top of the government were due to give evidence, including Joseph Muscat this week in the Stewards case, to the cover-ups of the corrupt agreements with Vitals, Stewards, Electrogas, AUM and numerous land deals to the impunity towards persons and institutions who should have been investigated by the police with charges brought against them, the list goes on and on.  On one such scandal list 83 incidents were listed.

All of this should be put into the context of the Moviment as presented to the people by Joseph Muscat, back in the 2013 election, with all the promises made to remove hypocrisy and be a party for good of the whole country. 

From the very first day in office, the hypocrisy was used as a means of accomplishing all their projects and plans to turn politics into business and making tycoons out of swindlers.  The Panama papers began to remove the scales from people’s eyes but many were still too blinded by the bling and jargon of a Labour government in power after 25 years of obscurity.  Compared to that dark, damp place that they were in, anything could shine and make hay. 

In their carefully structured mafia-organisation, the consultants’ fees were dished out like peanuts, taking the lead from Robert Abela and his €28,000 - that is as much as we know - to Sai Mizzi, to the overblown salaries to persons of trust close to every minister or top CEO.  With Pilatus bank as the launderer, nothing was left to chance when it came to generating the profits from illicit deals.

During all of this, Muscat and Abela give the impression they are squeaky clean.  So far uninhibited is Abela, in his side kicks, that his connection with criminal activity on the part of those he is associated with, is of no importance to him.  His recent links to the business of Christian Borg and his Gold Car Rentals doesn’t even register in his mind as anything to answer for. 

This is the hypocrisy projected on a daily basis with issue after issue, deal after deal, contracts and consultancies following on top of each other, unexplained wealth and a silent police commissioner. 

Soon enough the whole jamboree will come across to the most devoted Labourite, shocking to even their own low standards.  At some point, it becomes also personal to them.  How they have been duped and robbed by their own party, left to defend the indefensible and wave a dirty flag.

Ultimately this is the legacy of Muscat and Abela.  A sullied and dirty flag.  Not just of the Labour party but of the country Malta and Gozo and of the EU of which we are members.  Grey-listing does in fact exist and is doing us immense harm.  Denying the reality is another piece of hypocrisy as they try to give the impression that they are in charge and working for the good of the country. 

In this context, reversing the land deal at Zonqor is all about them and their ambitions.  Nothing is done unless it serves them to drive the PN to the ground.

But perhaps the very worst of hypocrisy is reserved for their part in the Environment and the interests of the hunters’ association.  The land given to the hunters is the worst ever theft that could be done to the people of Malta and Gozo.  In addition the research clause used to allow finch trapping. 

BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana stated: “There are various reasons why rampant illegal killing is on the rise in Malta. We believe that the lack of discipline by the hunters along with a government that is bending over backwards and sideways to give in to the hunting lobby’s demands for weaker laws, weaker enforcement, and more derogations from the European Birds Directive are the main cause.

The reality of the other hypocrisy, from the Planning Authority and its permits is evident all around us.  This area is the cornerstone of the edifice on which labour built its connections to business.  Other businesses were quick to pick up the trend and find their niche.  As were the previously unknown persons of trust milling around the ministries. 

The measure of greed is found at TVM.  How much lower can they stoop?  The national broadcaster and the Broadcasting Authority are instruments of the worst hypocrisy in the hands of the Labour Party. 

When it was revealed that not only were our water and electricity bills being overcharged but also our income tax the reply from Ministers Clyde Caruana and Miriam Dallli were an insult to our intelligence, trying to justify the theft by giving invalid excuses and new measures.

It is relentless.