Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1005614
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 18 JULY 2018 6 NEWS ANALYSIS JAMES DEBONO FACED by the rebuke of the European Banking Authority on the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit's (FIAU) han- dling of investigations on the operations of Pilatus Bank, Joseph Muscat has opted for the approach, which he has consistently taken to date: to ignore the problem, and hope that it will go away on its own. In contrast Muscat felt duty bound to explain his decision to take in 50 migrants from the 450 migrants rescued by Italy, in a radio interview on One Ra- dio. With parliament in recess and the Prime Minister not taking interviews or engaging in tel- evised debates, it is unlikely for the Pilatus Bank saga to lead a news cycle dominated by the World Cup, the migration cri- sis and the murder of Hugo Chetcuti. Moreover, the government's decision to ignore the issue of political responsibility for the FIAU's shortcomings, may be based on a shrewd calculation; the whole saga involving Pilatus bank forms part of the news cy- cle supposedly exorcised by the 2017 election result in which the still unproven Egrant al- legation also intimately associ- ated with Pilatus bank, featured prominently. Meanwhile the EBA's deci- sion was limited to censoring institutional failures including lack of record-keeping rather than a direct condemnation of any of the actors mentioned in Pilatus Bank and Panama sagas. The impression one gets is that after the resignation of former FIAU director general Manfred Galdes, there was a reluctance to pursue investigations vigor- ously. While back in 2016 after the FIAU's compliance visit to Pi- latus Bank in March, Manfred Galdes penned a letter of com- plaint to the Commissioner of Police about the preliminary findings of the FIAU at Pila- tus, after Galdes resigned, the FIAU found that the matters it had flagged earlier on had been dealt with by Pilatus Bank. One cannot ignore the per- ception of over familiarity be- tween the bank and the govern- ment which was solidified by reports of Muscat's attendance at the wedding of Pilatus bank chairman Ali Sadr Hashemine- jad in Tuscany. News of his at- tendance was only confirmed following the bank chairman's arraignment for floating US sanctions on Iran. This added another layer of suspicion over and above the use of the bank made by the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, who is also fac- ing a magisterial inquiry deal- ing with payments and trans- actions carried out through Pilatus. The latest decision of the EBA does not throw any light on these events but sug- gests that the second FIAU in- vestigation lacked vigour. The trickle of confirmation by independent bodies like the EBA may further solidify this view among those who were al- ready unhappy with this state of affairs. But one doubts whether it would impact substantially on a public opinion which may have already come to regard anything connected to Pilatus Bank as yesterday's news. From Pilatus to migration In contrast, what may have taken a toll on Labour's popu- larity among a section of its traditional voters was the de- cision to accept 50 migrants from a group of 450 rescued by Italy. Negative reactions on the social media following this decision suggest that Muscat is struggling to persuade a large segment of the electorate on this issue. This sentiment even emerged on the Facebook wall of Education Minister Evarist Bartolo after he shared a post praising the decision to take in the migrants. It also suggests that the Prime Minister's balancing act; that of offering solidarity when it comes to burden sharing while taking a hard-line against NGOs rescuing migrants in Libyan waters, has not entirely paid off in allaying an assort- ment of fears triggered by boat carrying migrants from Africa. Ironically Muscat is taking flak on an issue where he has shown statesmanlike quali- ties in a veritable international minefield poisoned by the rise of far-right populism. In the absence of concerted Euro- pean action, Muscat took a pro-active role by teaming up with French President Emanuel Macron to assemble a coalition of willing European nations. The ad hoc coalition first in- tervened to share migrants on the MV Lifeline boat which was allowed to enter Malta. On Saturday the same formula was re-proposed to ensure that 450 migrants allowed entry in Italy are also shared between different nations. With an EU agreement which sees all Eu- ropean nations doing their part unlikely due to entrenched op- position by the Visegrad na- tions, the creation of a coalition of the willing ensures that Italy and Malta are not left to their devices. This pro-active approach may have also served to drive a wedge between Salvini's tough anti-immigrant stance and Italian PM Guiseppe Conte's insistence on a pan-European solution. Muscat was right in saying that we can't expect soli- darity from others if we do not show it ourselves. In this case Muscat defied the populist label often attributed to him, insisting that he has no problem showing solidar- ity with other countries, add- ing that he "will shoulder the decision taken. This is what I am Prime Minister for, to take decisions." Muscat, whose international stature received a blow thanks to increased scrutiny on Mal- ta's financial sector following the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, may well be on the re- bound. Reaping the harvest? Yet in some ways Muscat is al- so reaping what he sowed when he raised the expectations of xenophobes through an abort- ed push-back threat in 2013. And through policies like the Individual Investor's Pro- gramme (IIP), Muscat inad- vertently fosters a distinction between the 'talented' global rich and the wretched of the earth, a distinction which not only underpins Muscat's cos- mopolitanism but also Maltese cultural attitudes to foreigners in general. In fact surveys con- firm that the Maltese make a sharp distinction between for- eigners who work here legally and those who are rescued on rickety boats. Moreover, to assuage popular feelings Muscat still plays the strongman by blocking Maltese ports to NGOs saving lives in the Mediterranean. In fact, Muscat's solution to the migration problem remains two pronged; a coalition of will- ing nations to share humanitar- ian obligations while as far as possible preventing migrants from crossing the Mediterra- nean by equipping the Libyan coastguard and weakening NGO operations. The end re- Is migration Muscat's Achilles' Judging by the social media outcry following the latest decision to accept 50 migrants reluctantly rescued by Italy and the more mooted reaction following the European Banking Authority's rebuke of the FIAU's investigation of Pilatus Bank, one is tempted to ask whether migration is becoming more of an Achilles' heel for Muscat than bad governance Ironically Muscat is taking flak on an issue where he has shown statesmanlike qualities in a veritable international minefield poisoned by the rise of far-right populism