It’s not a surprise that 87 per cent of the Maltese think that corruption is rampant. The surprise is that there is a 13% which does not believe so.

Corruption has existed since time immemorial, and it is impossible to eradicate. There will always be loopholes, and there will always be people who are prepared to risk. If, then, a culture of impunity exists to such an extent that, even when caught, or when there is evidence of corruption, the authorities do not proceed with their investigations, much less take people to court to face the consequences, then the chances are that more and more people get involved.

It is unfortunate that, over the past years, the country has been allowed to fall to such levels. Our reputation has gone to the dogs and it is not easy to climb back up.

The survey, carried out by Eurobarometer, also established that 79 per cent of those interviewed see bribery and abuse of power as also being common practice.

In a statement on the results if the survey, the Malta Employers Association on Monday said that the “situation has been deteriorating” for years and, worse, “there is an unwillingness to tackle the issues concretely”.

“Many businesses believe that they can only succeed if they have the right political connections, with a majority stating that we have an issue with nepotism and patronage… there is no level playing field between businesses that is critical in ensuring a health competitive and that generates investment and jobs. Rather, we are sliding down a dangerous path that leads to equating entrepreneurship with opportunism, and that the concept of business success is more dependent on political contacts than it is on creative vision and risk taking”.

The MEA could not have said it better. In Malta, it’s who you know, not what you can do.

In 2013, the Labour Party had been elected to government with slogans like “you may not support us, but you can work with us”, and that favouritism will not be tolerated. We were told that the government will look at qualities, not at faces, or allegiances. We were made to believe that, once elected, Labour would have adopted a zero tolerance towards corruption.

But it did not work like this. Actually, it turned out to be quite the opposite. The way things have worked under the Labour government for the last 10 years are so different than what the voting population was led to believe prior to that 2013 election. It took just a few days of Labour in government to see that what had been promised had already been forgotten.

The problem is that corruption breeds more corruption and, once matters get out of control, it is hard to bring things back in order. The government says that it has taken action to strengthen the rule of law, but it cannot be said that this has been successful.

What is worse is that more and more people are “accepting” that corruption is inevitable, when this should never be the case.