If ever there was need for irrefutable proof that Robert Abela has continued to run Government in the same style of his predecessor Joseph Muscat, this week we have been served. With the revelation of the latest scandal regarding the driving licences racket, our Prime Minister has revealed his absolute ineptitude once and for all.
The proceedings in court had been going on for a while, as officials from Transport Malta were facing charges about facilitating matters for certain individuals, when sitting for their driving tests. Now the actual texts that reveal a gargantuan traffic of requests originating from all corners of the Labour Government, and their relative positive replies have emerged – drawing the curtain on yet another stomach-churning scandal.
The brazenness of such a system is simply revolting. It panders to the worst elements of our society, the ones who know that they can get anything if they reach out to the right person.
It is a general culture of favour-calling, that has permeated each aspect of our lives, from the very simplest to the most complex. Seeing that even something as mundane as obtaining a driver’s license is now at the centre of such a sick system, is so disappointing.
Naturally this is only the latest in a long chain of scandals which have deteriorated every aspect of public life in Malta.
We haven’t even had the time to digest the complexity of the disability allowances scheme which the Labour Party operated, and through which undeserving individuals were receiving allowances every month.
Now we come to know that at the centre of the Transport Malta racket were several senior members of the Labour Government, as well as one very senior Minister.
People with ill-intensions will always exist, one might argue. People who will manipulate a situation to take advantage of it, will always find a way. So as long as the right thing is done when these matters come to light, then all will be fine.
But this is precisely where the problem lies! The right thing is never done, and things keep going as planned, with the real culprits behind such heinous acts getting away scot free.
Dr Abela actually went to the great length of justifying the actions of the many Labour party senior officials who recommended people to ‘be helped’, when sitting for their driving test. That is how the system works, he said, trying to shut down the matter.
But that is not how the system should work, Mr Prime Minister. That is not the Malta we want. We don’t want to live in a country where we are required to ask a Minister’s lackey for help, to navigate the civil service, or get things that are ours by right.
We were promised a Government that prioritized meritocracy. A Government that didn’t look at anyone’s face – this sure looks like the absolute opposite of that!
No wonder our younger generations are packing up and seeking new opportunities across Europe and beyond, where their skills are being appreciated for what they are, and for what they can achieve.
You have failed us once again Mr Prime Minister, by defending those who are blatantly making a mockery of anything that is good.
Robert Abela’s inability to call out these actions for what they are, and ask for resignations, perhaps is the worst part of this entire saga.