The Malta Employers’ Association on Tuesday expressed its strong condemnation of the recent scandals involving benefit fraud and driving test licences. In a statement, it saidthat these incidents are clear evidence that there are serious governance issues in Malta which are affecting its international reputation and many aspects of people’s lives.

The association said that covering up for such scandals under the pretext that this is the normal functioning of the political system is unacceptable and sends a dangerous message to all sectors of Maltese society.

The Prime Minister’s pronouncement in this respect is a radical invitation to anarchy which encourages individuals and businesses to bypass what should be established and trusted structures to either get fast tracked to obtain what they are eligible for, or worse, to acquire entitlements which they should never have at the expense of others. It also provides future administrations justification to conduct their affairs in a similar manner, the MEA said.

The MEA was reacting to reports that that a Transport Malta racket to help candidates obtain a driving licence leads straight to Minister Ian Borg and his trusted workers. In comments about the issue, the PM said that Borg was just doing his job and saw nothing wrong with this kind of customer support.

In its statement, the MEA said this is not the way a political system should work at all. It is impossible to justify the correspondence that has exposed blatant corrupt practices that makes one question whether those who are driving vehicles on our roads are actually fit to do so. How can insurance companies assess risk in such circumstances? These abuses are helping a few for partisan interests at the expense of potentially destroying many people’s lives.

Seen against a backdrop where it is known that phantom jobs were dished out from Castille, where hundreds of people have been abusively awarded health benefits, where business organisations have repeatedly been calling for better transparency in public procurement, one can only wonder how widespread is this culture of nepotism, and to what extent corruption has been normalised in our society.

The MEA said that what is expected is a clear condemnation of any tampering with the established channels and systems that make us a civilised society, an apology for what has occurred, a commitment by both political parties to step back from partisan meddling, and criminal and disciplinary proceedings against all those involved, whatever their rank, status or political affiliation. Only then will we be able to steer back to a semblance of normalcy.