Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1188424
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 NOVEMBER 2019 7 NEWS ANALYSIS Muscat for the past three years. Schembri was not even fired, but resigned out of his own will after a meeting with the PM on Mon- day night before he was him- self taken into custody for an interrogation. His resignation also sealed the fate of Konrad Mizzi, who till Monday was re- sisting calls from his own party to resign, insisting that he had no idea who the owner of 17 Black was, despite the listing of this company as a target client of his now dissolved Panama company. Cardona, who was himself interrogated on Saturday, has also suspended himself until the conclusion of investiga- tions. Thirdly, Muscat now finds him- self taking important decisions re- lated to the case, including that on a pardon requested by Yorgen Fenech who is reportedly spilling beans on people including Schembri, who are higher up in the food chain. While this may be a desperate attempt by a man who is drowning to take oth- ers with him to the abyss, the implications of any further links be- t w e e n h i m a n d political officials could be explosive. How Muscat has damaged himself Overall the PM's position is weak- ened in view of his past reticence to act on Schembri and Mizzi. This cannot but be interpreted as self-inflicted harm by a PM who for reasons he only knows, refused to act in the appropriate time-frame to nip this problem in the bud. Irrespective of whether his trust had been betrayed by those closest to him or whether he was actively protect- ing them despite being in the know, his political judgement was clearly wrong and a dark shadow has been cast on the whole government. He is now obliged to shoulder political responsibility for his misjudgement. This raises the inevitable question: Can he now be trusted with taking any further decisions with a direct bearing on the investigations? Take Fenech's request for a presi- dential pardon. Granting a pardon to Fenech would be interpreted as the ultimate get-out-of-jail card. But not granting it may be fodder for conspir- acy theories of all sorts. Moreover, the arrest of Yorgen Fenech has raised the popular cre- dulity stakes: for who would have suspected that such a powerful and connected person to be possibly involved in such a crime? And who would have imagined the PM's own chief of staff to face a police interrogation (the matter of which still has to be established)? The fact that what was deemed unthinkable a few months ago is now real, means that nothing can be excluded. In such a scenario it becomes vital that the person at the helm is vested by moral authority. For as a result of recent events people will start doubting everything and everyone. It stands to reason that the Prime Minister overseeing this delicate phase of Maltese history has to be as disconnected as possible from the persons being in- vestigated. The political aftermath In his terse decla- ration Muscat has hinted that for the moment he wants to remain in charge to give the country 'stability'. On Monday he even summoned the parliamentary group which unani- mously approved a confidence vote in him in what was described as an in- ternal party process leading to other "decisions" to be taken in coming days. But rather than reinforcing Muscat's authority the confidence vote may well have diminished him. For now he is facing his own party not from the position of 'invictus', but as the man who wronged the party by taking a very bad decision. It may well be that Muscat is now paving the way for a transitional phase which may see him depart in the next months. But by staying on with a dark per- sonal cloud standing above his head, he may well end up paralyzing the country's government. The realisa- tion that he has become a liability may well be the hardest and most painful realisation for the man who thought of himself as being invincible. But even if his exit is managed to ensure a dignified exit, Muscat's pro- crastination with regards to sacking Mizzi and Schembri has come at a big political cost. It has eroded La- bour's greatest political advantage; that of being united in contrast with a divided opposition. Instead the current crisis has given a semblance of unity and sense of purpose to the opposition while triggering dissent in Labour's ranks, which has found a strong voice in Evarist Bartolo, a re- spectable and shrewd politician hail- ing from the party's socialist wing, who commands sufficient moral au- thority while no longer harbouring leadership ambitions. Still, the hubris generated by these events may well represent an oppor- tunity for the country, albeit one full of pitfalls and lurking dangers. The Nationalist Party may build on its newfound unity and start present- ing itself as a government-in-waiting. Yet this may not be easy especially if the anti-Delia faction feels vindicated enough to attempt another bid to re- move him. Moreover the party still lacks a strong frontbench to be re- garded as an alternative government. Third parties also smell another op- portunity. While there is a void on the left, which movements like Graf- fitti may aspire to fill, the aftermath of a breakdown in public trust in poli- ticians was always fertile ground for the far-right to exploit. Neither can one write off the Labour Party. It is very unlikely that it suffers the same fate as the Italian Socialist Party after Tangentopoli, simply be- cause political loyalties in Malta run so deep. But it would be dangerous if the party simply relies on tribal loyal- ties to survive. It can still build on its positive legacy of social reforms while throwing away the toxic bathwater in which it has found itself. But that may require a clear depar- ture from the subservience to the big business interests, which ultimately brought about the meltdown of the Muscat government. It is hard to see this transformation with Muscat still at the helm. Even for the sake of his party, he may have to take a step back, now before it is too late. still politically tenable? It is hard to see this transformation with Muscat still at the helm. Even for the sake of his party, he may have to take a step back, now before it is too late.