As I begin to write this article, the bells peal for noon.
Everywhere in the world, the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is being commemorated. The families of those who have been killed, wounded, imprisoned or forced to flee are undoubtedly feeling the injustice of it all.
There is little that the world can do to alleviate the suffering and the pain except provide Ukraine with more and better weapons.
Attempts to get the Security Council of the United Nations to condemn the invasion are doomed to failure because Russia has the right to veto. So the debate was held in the General Assembly and Malta was one of the countries that supported the resolution condemning the invasion.
This motion is without any effect. The fighting will continue and more people will die, including soldiers on the Russian side, mostly untrained and ill-equipped, sent to be massacred.
But all this is hardly felt in our country. Here, the attention is on a courtroom in Valletta where Judge Francesco Depasquale began reading excerpts from his 140-page judgement on the contract which handed over three hospitals to Vitals, a case instituted by former PN leader Adrian Delia.
The courtroom was packed and there were also people outside the court building who were interested in the outcome and who applauded Delia as he entered the building.
Other than this the proceedings were being relayed to the country as a whole by live blogs by various websites. As I write, I can scroll through no less than three live blogs giving a blow-by-blow account, more or less identical, of what the judge was saying. There may be other blogs especially in the Maltese language.
By the time this article is being read, the verdict will be known and the country would have had ample opportunity to comment upon it and what it implies. That is for now and for later.
By 1pm, before the judge had finished reading his excerpts, the blogs were already shouting about the verdict.
The judge’s words were damning enough. The commitments were not kept, there were proofs of fraud, and above all evidence of incompetence. Vitals ought to have been disqualified.
Read the judge’s verdict and see for yourselves. It is also indicative that certain blogs and news sites chose to focus on Ukraine when they usually prefer not to mention the war.
But what now? The verdict on the contract is clear.
What is already crystal clear is what this verdict means for the protagonists, from Joseph Muscat to Konrad Mizzi. Don’t hold your breath: the culture of immunity which this government fosters will still protect them.
The contracts are to be annulled and the three hospitals returned to the people of Malta. This is a victory not just for Adrian Delia who took the government to court but for the Maltese people as a whole.
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