"I'll know myself when my time is up". So spoke Robert Abela. Whether his bold statement is the product of sheer naivety, pure arrogance or a profound ignorance of history is difficult to say.
Robert Abela was asked point blank - will you call a vote of confidence? "Such votes are only called by politicians who know their time is up," he retorted. Abela is absolutely convinced he's not one of them. He thinks he'll be able to pick and choose the date and time of his exit. Very few politicians who've reached the top are afforded such luxury. Abela needn't look too far to realise a top politician's political demise is hardly within his control.
Joseph Muscat is a living example of how fast and how far even demi-gods can crash. Muscat won two landslide electoral victories. His popularity was sky high. He felt so unassailable that he tattooed in big bold letters "Invictus" on his own skin. Yet in a flash he was gone.
Now he lives the daily indignity of having to ask the court for permission to use the money in his account. The all powerful Muscat is nothing more than a focus of widespread derision as more of his nefarious projects are exposed. He thought he was invincible. Now he just waits for his next court sitting, knowing his foreseeable future will be consumed by legal wrangling and more humiliation. He should consider himself lucky that Robert Abela is too weak to confiscate his diplomatic passport.
The sorry state of his own immediate predecessor should remind Abela of the fragility of power. But it seems that rather than humility and caution, Abela's reaction to Muscat's predicament is to proclaim his own political longevity. "Results obtained so far are only the beginning," Abela bragged. He recalled all the protests since 2013 adding that Labour will always respond calmly. Yet he warned there are "underhand manoeuvres, even from beyond our shores"
He boasted about his "solid victory that acknowledges the government's work" after the recent European parliament elections, "it's a bigger win than any ever won by the PN". "The result gives us renewed energy to work hard - we will be working hard each and every day until the (next general) election", he commented, assuming he'll still be leading his party in 2027.
Recent events in Bangladesh should open his eyes to the fickle world of prime-ministers. Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's prime minister, had an iron grip on her country. She just won a landslide election victory in January, marred by widespread vote-rigging and persecution of the opposition. She ruled Bangladesh for 20 of the last 28 years. She was dubbed South Asia's iron lady - firmly in control, unchallenged. Her position was rock solid. Until one day her people rose against her.
On 5 August tens of thousands of mostly student protesters descended on the Prime Minister's residence in Dhaka. Sheikh Hasina's loyal police met them with tear gas, rubber bullets and even live ammunition. But the crowds kept coming. The Prime-minister finally realised her position was untenable. She fled with her sister in a helicopter to neighbouring India. Scenes of jubilation were beamed across the world and gleeful protesters danced in the streets. "She destroyed Bangladesh," one protester yelled.
Sheikh Hasina had run her country like a personal fiefdom. Rampant cronyism had made Bangladesh South Asia's most corrupt country. Yet when the Economist's interviewer challenged her about corruption she claimed "the problem does not exist".
Malta is rapidly approaching the title of the EU's most corrupt country. Here too cronyism is rampant. Like Sheikh Hasina, Abela claims that there is no corruption. When his minister's whatsapp messages to Transport Malta staff were exposed, instructing them to take care of specific candidates sitting their driving test, Abela claimed Ian Borg was just doing his job. As worrying allegations of another massive scandal surfaced, this time at Identita', Abela didn't even bother to comment. His Interior Minister hid away and then swept it all under the carpet. "The numbers I was given from Identita' are completely different," he claimed. "The agency has always acted correctly".
Bangladesh's economy was growing by a staggering 7% per year. Millions had been pulled out of poverty by Sheikh Hasina's governments. She too felt invincible. The police and army were at her beck and call. Most of the opposition leaders were in jail or in hiding. The national broadcaster was her party's mouthpiece. Nothing could go wrong. She was too detached to realise the country was seething. And all it took was a little spark that ignited a conflagration.
Malta's economy is still growing. Robert Abela is sure his people are eternally grateful for Labour's economic "miracle". He's certain the country is happy. "The upcoming elections are a choice between those who seek Malta's interest and those who want to put Malta back in the Middle Ages," he warned the nation. "People still trust the Labour party", he proclaimed. The reality is that out of 370,184 registered voters only 117,805 voted for Labour in June's election. That's a mere 31.8%. Less than one in three eligible voters voted for Abela's Labour.
Bangladesh's euphoria at Sheikh Hasina's escape was palpable. But that ecstasy is tinged with trepidation. The country's institutions have been decimated, stuffed with party loyalists. The nation's foreign reserves have dropped by half to just 19 billion dollars since 2021. Most of that money was transferred abroad by Bangladesh's crony class - friends and collaborators of the Prime-minister and her party.
Malta has seen its own reserves depleted as hundreds of millions of euro were poured into a bankrupt Steward under Robert Abela's watch. Hundreds of millions more went on fake jobs, direct appointments, direct contracts, fake disability benefits, lavish dinners and entertainment. Malta's debt rocketed to over 10 billion euro.
Nobody predicted Sheikh Hasina's cataclysmic collapse. Nobody imagined Joseph Muscat would be facing a criminal trial. Robert Abela should learn one vital lesson: don't test the people's patience.