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18 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 NOVEMBER 2018 23 November 2008 Scicluna 'considers' Muscat's invitation to stand with MLP ECONOMIST Edward Scicluna is "actively considering" contesting the European Parlia- ment election with the Malta Labour Party after he was personally approached by MLP leader Joseph Muscat. MaltaToday can reveal that Muscat asked the renowned professor to contest on the Labour ticket in the last days, as rumours that the MLP was planning to announce a star candidate for the upcoming June elections abounded. "Yes, I am actively considering contesting as an MLP candidate," Prof. Scicluna told Malta- Today. "I'm giving it another week's thought but I think I will submit my nomination." A former president of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) and executive chairman of the financial services authority (MFSA), Scicluna, 62, has enjoyed the confidence of successive Labour and National- ist administrations through his appointments in key positions. Yet since Lawrence Gonzi took over as prime minister, he has been consistently sidelined for his critical economic appraisal of government. Only last week, Finance Minister Tonio Fene- ch reacted to Prof. Scicluna's criticism by saying he was "Labour-leaning" and lacked objectivity. "He is not one whom I consider objective in his opinions," was Fenech's reply to his argu- ments in an interview on Illum. "I know I will pay a price," Prof. Scicluna told MaltaToday. "But the snide remarks have long been coming. To me, what is important is the arguments, the reasoning, not one's political leanings. Fenech Adami quoted my papers in Parliament in 1984 to chastise Mintoff for the wage freeze. I have always spoken my mind and I won't forfeit my independence. "I believe there is a need for the injection of new people to close the great political divide in these hard times, with an impending reces- sion and with the present social, economic and political problems. Threats are coming from all sides and we need to come together to face them." Prof. Scicluna was critical of Gonzi's peg- ging the Lira with the Euro early before Malta was admitted as a candidate for the currency changeover, and had also expressed his skep- ticism about Malta's qualifications to adopt the Euro. He had also warned that last year's growth projections were too optimistic when coupled with the generous pre-election budget, prompting snappy retorts from Gonzi and Fenech. Still, he enjoys widespread respectability as an independent economist. A former head of department of economics at the University of Malta, Scicluna has served as MCESD president between 1999 and 2003, as MFSA executive chairman between 1997 and 1999, as board director of the Central Bank between 1996 and 2003, and as electoral com- missioner between 1987 and 1993. MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week Playing for time Editorial ''Muscat uses a different yardstick for his men. It is clear that nobody has shouldered political responsibility: The ball is now in his court.'' Opposition Leader Adrian Delia IT is becoming increasingly clear that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is playing hide-and- seek with the damning 17 Black revelations. His initial reaction was to claim that the issue was 'under investigation'… before it was clear that a police investigation was under way. With the investigation now separately confirmed, Muscat claimed that it was not a criminal investigation into Keith Schembri, but rather into the company itself. "The investigation is into the company and not into a specific individual," he said (somewhat impatiently) in reply to journal- ists' questions. "Let's let the authorities do their job. If the investigation implicates people involved in politics, it is then that I will take the neces- sary decisions, as I have in the past. […] we were not informed that an investigation was ongoing, as it should be in cases of this na- ture." It is at best unclear what Muscat meant to say by 'as it should be'. Legally, it is true that the police – being (in theory) autonomous from government – are under no obligation to inform government of its operations. But here there is prima facie, enough reasonable doubt to suspect involvement of government officials in what could pos- sibly be criminal activity. 17 Black has been identified as a target client for the Panama companies set up by Schembri and Mizzi; and while Mizzi still denies knowledge of the company, Schembri has previously admitted that it formed part of his company's business plans. It has now been revealed that 17 Black is possibly owned by Yorgen Fenech, an inves- tor in the Electrogas consortium that built and operates the gas power station. Fenech has not denied the association. Two considerations emerge from these facts. One – given that that the Prime Minis- ter has declared he will not take action until the ongoing investigation is concluded – it is incumbent on the police to confirm or other- wise the details that have already emerged in the press. The public is entitled to informa- tion about a case that has such grave impli- cations for the rule of law. We need to know, at minimum, what stage this investigation is at, and whether any arrests are being con- templated. Moreover, it is patently absurd for Muscat to argue that the only entity being investi- gated is the company itself. Companies have ownership structures, and conduct their business with other companies owned by other people. It goes without saying that a police inves- tigation into a company would, de facto, also investigate the people who own and do busi- ness with that company. Two, the political repercussions of such a state of affairs do not depend only on the precise legality of the procedures. There is a universally acknowledged yardstick for pro- priety in such cases: any form of investiga- tion, one that is arguably looking into what could be a secret company structure to fun- nel underhand payments between a govern- ment official and a company that has benefit from a government contract, would make the positions of Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi untenable. In answer to this, Muscat has simply point- ed towards past (and present) cases where political figures have been investigated on criminal grounds, yet refused to resign. He cited MP Beppe Fenech Adami and MEP David Casa, who are currently being in- vestigated by the FIAU and possibly the EU's anti-fraud agency OLAF respectively. "What's good for the goose is good for the gander," Muscat said. This is quite frankly irrelevant. Casa and Fenech Adami do not occupy key govern- mental positions; and in any case, their failure to resign is a matter to be questioned separately. There is another, equally clichéd English idiom to be used here: 'Two wrongs do not make a right'. This is especially relevant given than Joseph Muscat owes his posi- tion as prime minister to a 2013 promise of 'transparency', 'meritocracy', and – above all – 'accountability'. Nonetheless, there is also a party-political dimension to this impasse… and on this level, Muscat is surely on more solid terrain. He can hope to be buoyed by Labour's own support, each time his political enemies call for his resignation – and it is perhaps for this reason that, to date, Adrian Delia has chosen to carefully avoid making that call himself. Instead, the PN leader is strategically try- ing to demolish Muscat's own logical argu- ments for keeping Schembri and Mizzi on after the 17 Black revelations. His arguments are difficult to counter, but Muscat has an advantage: he knows that his electoral ad- vantage will not wane as a direct result of this controversy. On the contrary it might even grow. In itself, the situation suggests that Muscat will keep playing for time, in the hope that any magisterial inquiry that might take place in 2019, could either absolve his two allies, or find no grounds with which to metastasise into a criminal investigation. Muscat will only act when the ground un- derneath him gets smaller and smaller… as it surely will, the longer this game of hide and seek continues.