The driving licence scandal is yet another case of institutionalised corruption, NGO Repubblika said Sunday, with politicians willing to put people in danger on the roads simply to satisfy their “friends”.

The NGO was reacting to an article published in The Sunday Times of Malta, which exposed how former Transport Minister Ian Borg together with other people in authority at Transport Malta have allegedly facilitated the acquiring of driving licences, either by enabling applicants to skip the waiting list or arranging for people who to pass the driving test even though they were clearly in need of further lessons.

The NGO expressed concern over the fact that the ex-minister was willing to interfere in the exam process so that “his friends would not wait when it was their turn and would not be examined like others”.

Repubblika said that the investigation documents “institutionalised corruption” where government ministers and officials chosen by them intervene directly so that those who want to jump the queue do so and “so that those who are supposed to fail the exam pass.”

It said that this shows what politicians are willing to do in order to maintain their position of power since they are “perfectly willing to put everyone in clear danger on the roads.”

“The investigation also shows that hundreds of people expected to skip the queue or pass an exam they are not ready for because they have access to the minister,” the NGO said.

It said that this shows a corrupt culture within society that “runs deep”.

It said that “as in any other systemic corruption scandal the police acted against a small number of people with a limited share in a scheme and turned a blind eye to the involvement of ministers and officials in their staff”, adding that this shows how even the police themselves are contributing towards the institutionalisation of corruption.

On Prime Minister Robert Abela’s response where he declared that he “will do nothing if the police do not nothing”, Repubblika said that this response is worrying since evidence suggests that it was officials within his office who “arranged for those who did not deserve to get their driving licence”.

“It is clear that not only is there no political will to clean us (the nation) from corruption, but the party in government has a declared policy that at the cost of a clear danger to public health and safety, it carries out the injustice to serve whom they (the people) vote for at the expense of others,” the statement read.

In order for Malta to become a cleaner republic, Repubblika said that;

“1. If a minister cheats in an examination required by law to please someone, the minister must be punished.

2. The political instructions to the government departments and agencies should only be done according to the procedure and not by WhatsApp and secret messages to people close to the minister. Ministers who break these rules must be fired.

3. The political class should lead by example and close the door to those who are not looking for their rights to be fulfilled but rather, seek to break the rules through asking for pleasures.

4. We (the nation) need cultural education, a collective conscience that abhors corruption. We need to feel shame when we are caught jumping the queue or pretending to be given what we don't deserve.”

Repubblika said that it wants a national discussion and effort to “eradicate corruption from Malta's institutions and culture.”