Andrew Rawnsley, the Observer’s Chief political commentator, recommended a Christmas party game for UK citizens. “Try ranking 13 years of Tory screw-ups in order of severity,” he suggested.
He lamented how years of Tory government left Britain a far worse place than they found it. Simon Case, the cabinet secretary commented about the five Tory Prime-ministers’ cabinets: “I’ve never seen a bunch of people less well equipped to run a country”. Clearly Case hasn’t been to Malta during Labour’s decade in power.
While the UK Conservatives swiftly ran through five leaders - David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak - during thirteen years in power, Malta’s Labour is still on its second pick. And yet the two Labour leaders would give those five UK prime-ministers a run for their money in the bad governance stakes.
Joseph Muscat, Labour’s ‘invictus’, didn’t even manage to complete a single full term. From riding high on a wave of public support, he swiftly crashed into ignominy and scandal. Barely four years in, as Daphne Caruana Galizia zoomed in on the owner of 17-Black, his links to Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri and the Elecrogas project, Muscat had to call an early election.
The order to proceed with the heinous plan to liquidate the journalist was issued soon afterwards.
Just two years after her assassination, Muscat was gone - drenched in scandal. His dreams of European glory evaporated as former European allies quickly distanced themselves from his toxic legacy.
Muscat didn’t go quietly, head hanging in shame. He lingered long enough to thwart his deputy. Touring towns and villages in an absurd circus of fake camaraderie, Muscat was busy stabbing Fearne in the back. Muscat’s wife Michelle was even busier rallying the troops around Fearne’s rival Robert Abela. The collective sigh of relief at Muscat’s premature departure was short-lived. Abela’s hopeful initial decisions turned out to be illusory. While removing Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar with one hand, Abela was appointing him government consultant with the other.
For Malta the New Year’s Eve party game could be ranking which of the two Labour leaders messed up most. Or maybe which leader had the most glaring scandals on his watch.
Muscat would be difficult to beat. He’s had some pretty awful howlers that truly deserve to be remembered but have since been forgotten because they were followed by so many more and so much worse. The 4 million Premier Cafe scandal barely features in most memories. What’s 4 million next to the 400 million Vitals scam? Who can remember the Zonqor American University debacle when it was followed by the St Vincent de Paule €274 million euro illegal deal. Nobody remembers Muscat renting his own car to the state to pocket €7,000 now. That’s petty cash compared to the millions the secret SOCAR deal cost the nation.
The NAO found Muscat’s €360 million guarantee on Electrogas’s loans was irregular and posed significant risks. There was ‘possible distortion” of the tendering process for the power station project. Yorgen Fenech’s Electrogas bid didn’t comply with minimum requirements on “multiple instances”. But Muscat’s government made sure Fenech still got that contract by putting Nexia BT’s Brian Tonna and two of his employees on the final adjudication board. Tonna’s Nexia BT also served as auditors for the company holding Fenech’s Electrogas shares, GEM.
Meanwhile Muscat was busy chatting away to Yorgen Fenech on Whatapp and inviting him to his Girgenti private birthday bash. The man later exposed as owner of 17-Black famously regaled Muscat €5,000 Petrus wines and a Bulgari watch. Muscat travelled with Fenech to Tuscany to celebrate the wedding of Pilatus chairman Ali Sadr Hasheminejad.
Muscat’s scandals kept coming. Muscat received a €27,000 gift in first class tickets to Dubai from a secret donor and tens of thousands from a company that received payments from Steward Healthcare. Muscat became consultant for an exotic bird company pocketing €11,800 monthly from a casino tycoon who’d benefitted to the tune of millions when Muscat’s government slashed annual ground payments and extended the property lease for Dragonara Casino. Muscat started receiving thousands more from Fortina, just weeks after resigning and after he’d paved the way for Fortina’s Sliema seafront project. Muscat got tens of thousands more from MDA’s Stivala group just months after he stepped down.
Well, Robert Abela’s no walkover. His contemptuous handling of the Caruana Galizia inquiry and his amazing failure to fully implement any single recommendation in over two years shouldn’t be overlooked. The devious way in which, for months, he buried the Quintano report after Myriam Pace’s death cannot be forgotten. Neither can his stunning U-turn over the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry. Or over the fate of Rosianne Cutajar. Or the abortion issue.
When the disability benefits scandal exploded, Abela calmly announced it was just his political system. When the Transport Malta licensing scandal was exposed, he commended Ian Borg and his customer care officers for helping constituents.
Abela’s personal skeletons vie with Muscat’s. Abela felt no embarrassment when his €17,000 monthly remuneration from the Planning Authority was revealed. He claimed another €86,000 in overtime. Abela’s profits from a business deal struck with Chris Borg, the man accused of abduction and money laundering and Abela’s suspicious acquisition of a sprawling Zejtun property for peanuts raise his winning chances. His lucrative business deal with Gilbert Bonnici on an Iklin development was swiftly followed with millions in government contracts for Bonnici Brothers. Malta Enterprise channelled EU funds to Bonnici brothers for their quarry development which Abela himself shamefully inaugurated.
That Muscat-Abela competition should be close. To be fair with Abela, he’s at a slight disadvantage. Muscat had six years at the helm. Abela is only starting his fourth. Yet he seems determined to strip his predecessor of all his accolades - from biggest Labour victory ever to OCCRP’s man of the year for corruption.