"All corruption must be punished, every corrupt party official must be prosecuted".  This was the Party Leader's clear message.  "To discipline the party," he added "we have to be self-disciplined... but corruption is the biggest challenge to the party, a life and death struggle".

That wasn't Robert Abela.  It was Chinese leader Xi Jinping.  Even China's Communist leader acknowledges China has a problem with corruption.  83% of Chinese interviewed by the Pew Research Centre listed corruption as their top concern. Even in that one-party state the Leader listens to the concerns of his people. Xi set up the powerful Deepening Reform Commission to root out corruption at every level.

Malta is plagued with one massive corruption scandal after another.  95% of Maltese, according to a recent Eurobarometer survey, believe there is widespread corruption.  One in four know someone personally who took or accepted a bribe. 

Even the US State Department knows about Labour's corruption. It banned Labour's star minister and short-lived deputy leader and the former Prime-minister's chief of staff from entering the USA for their involvement in significant corruption, bribes and kickbacks.

Yet Robert Abela never once acknowledged the gravity of the problem that threatens not only the country but the very survival of his party - corruption.

Every time a new scandal is exposed, Abela immediately denies any corruption took place. When the Transport Malta licensing scandal surfaced Abela claimed Ian Borg was just doing his job.

Whenever credible and reliable information of serious corruption is presented to Abela, he doesn't even pretend allegations will be investigated. He simply denies any wrongdoing and attacks the source of the revelations.  Only somebody already aware of wrongdoing and intent on covering it up reacts in that way.

When Abela found out about the disability benefits scandal he swept it under the carpet.  Silvio Grixti quietly stepped down  and Abela retained him as OPM Consultant.  It took almost two years before investigative journalists exposed the magnitude of that scandal.

Denial has always been Labour's response.  Vitals was great and would invest hundreds of millions - and develop medical tourism.  Steward was the real deal, Fearne told us.  Electrogas was a Labour miracle that brought down utility bills.  The Mozura windfarm was a huge success, inaugurated by Joseph Muscat, not  a multi-million swindle to the benefit of Yorgen Fenech. The Siggiewi social housing project provided vulnerable people a decent place to live, not brazen electoral fraud.

Rosianne Cutajar was recruited to a fake job.  But Pierre Fenech, ITS CEO, who gave her that job wasn't prosecuted.  He wasn't even investigated.  Anton Refalo  caught with a historical artefact in his back garden wasn't either.  Now we're told the Victorian era relic has been returned but nobody knows where it is or how it was returned.

Ian Borg who cheated a mentally ill elderly man out of his inheritance never faced justice.  The swimming pool Borg built illegally on that land hasn't been dismantled. Silvio Schembri hasn't been investigated over his links to developers who provided him with district offices. Roderick Galdes hasn't been interrogated by police over his unexplained wealth . Edward Zammit Lewis has never been called in to explain his links to Yorgen Fenech, his luxury holiday in the Alps and his inappropriate Whatsapp communications.

Xi Jinping was spurred into action when he was told that 84% of corrupt officials were promoted while engaging in corruption.  In Robert Abela's Malta those tainted with corruption are routinely promoted. Frank Fabri was given not one but two lucrative jobs  after he helped Justyne Caruana steal tens of thousands of taxpayers' money to pay her lover for a job he didn't do.

China decided to decentralise control over state owned property to provide ruling elites maximum opportunity to extract wealth from society.

For exactly the same reason Labour hived off our hospitals.  It sold off Enemalta.  Chen Cheng, closely linked to Konrad Mizzi and owner of secret company Macbridge was deeply involved in that suspicious transaction - he still hasn't been investigated. 

Labour regularly sells off public land for peanuts as in the case of Mellieha's green area handed over to Paul Attard, the developer who gave Silvio Schembri his Luqa constituency office. Labour gives away our land to mega-developers even in ODZ areas.  Permits are routinely issued against the advice of case officers.  Illegalities are quickly sanctioned.  Joseph Portelli was given the green light for his massive development on the eve of a general election after dining Robert Abela.

These were conscious decisions by Labour. They weren't in the interest of the state. They only served the interests of Labour's ruling elite and their close friends - Joseph Portelli, Zammit Tabona, Silvio Debono, Yorgen Fenech.

Robert Abela's business partners, the Bonnici brothers were awarded a 600 million euro contract for a waste-to-energy plant despite having no experience whatsoever in the field. Now the courts have struck down that filthy contract.

Corruption is rife.  It's a massive wave that drags everybody in the party with it. Even those wanting to stay clean are sucked in.  If they don't join in they're on the outside, not trusted by party colleagues and leadership.  Everyone is tainted to some extent - an undeserved job, an unmerited promotion, an illegal permit, a severe disability allowance, a driving licence for a relative, a government apartment, a direct contract, a forgiven parking ticket.

Corruption is the glue that holds Labour together.  Everybody remains silent because everybody is compromised. For those rare individuals who dare lift the lid on the rotting carcass, Labour deploys all its ammunition to destroy them. Look at Silvio Grixti's and Andy Ellul's former driver.

Labour maintains loyalty by allowing its members and donors to engage in corruption.  Corruption is structured into Labour's governance system. Without corruption Labour's support evaporates, its power lost.

Xi Jinping is slowly eradicating corruption. But Labour can't even try.  Labour's corruption is no longer just a malignant growth on one part of the body that can be surgically excised.  It's now widely metastasised and infiltrated every part of the body. The inevitable outcome is a slow miserable death for the party.