Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1188424
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 MAY 2018 9 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 NOVEMBER 2019 9 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday MaltaToday, MediaToday Co. Ltd, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: MATTHEW VELLA DEPUTY EDITOR: PAUL COCKS Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 • Fax: (356) 21 385075 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt YESTERDAY marked the culmination of Joseph Muscat's biggest ever mis- judgement – retaining Keith Schembri as his chief of staff, and Konrad Mizzi, when they were revealed to have opened offshore companies in Panama in 2016. Within a year, with the snap elec- tion that was announced in 2017, it was further revealed that a connection existed between the Dubai company 17 Black and the Panama companies – a mystery only finally confirmed in 2018 a year after Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination, linking the Panama companies to Yorgen Fenech, the Electrogas shareholder. In these three years, the Labour government held out in defence of its minister and the chief of staff, pre- venting formal investigations into the Panama Papers from taking place. The prime minister preferred to ride the wave of his popular support instead of facing the moral question staring at his administration: the use of offshore companies opened by his closest allies, an action that had a strong whiff of corruption and brib- ery. This unsustainable marriage of unbridled piracy and Labour's values, has found a murderous end when faced by the truth of their action. Instead of probing his two men, Muscat defended them with legalistic ripostes, breeding – at the very least – a sense of unfairness and indecency that is felt by the common man in the street. Labour clearly has an electoral mandate to govern till 2022 – but Joseph Muscat's moral authority has been compromised to the point of no return after failing to sack Keith Schembri despite mounting evidence of irregular behaviour before he re- signed under duress after being sum- moned to the police headquarters for questioning. The country is now in a Catch-22 situation. On one hand Labour has a clear mandate to govern and complete the legislature. On the other, Malta finds itself facing its greatest political earth- quake led by a Prime Minister who for three years refused to sack a Minister and a chief of staff who not had set up secret companies in Panama after the 2013 elections. The protests of yesterday, the justi- fied anger of people outside the House of Representatives, were necessary and a sign of the endgame to what Panamagate has represented. Normally in such circumstances the country needs strong leader- ship. Muscat immediately reacted to Caruana Galizia's assassination by promising to leave no stone unturned in solving this case and his words were matched by the arrest of the three executioners weeks after the murder. Muscat emerged stronger than ever and was rewarded by greater public support. But now the situation is entirely different. With his chief ally associated with Fenech not just in the 17 Black scan- dal, but possibly in terms of either more corrupt dealings or the assas- sination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Muscat cannot avoid the association and the guilt his own administration carries. Murder – political murder – is hanging on the Muscat administra- tion. A subdued Muscat said he will stay on as PM in the weeks to come, but his administration has been shorn of the moral force that a prime minister needs to keep on governing. Schembri was the architect of the Labour victories that Muscat her- alded, but also at the heart of the 'pro-business' mantra that Labour es- poused. Muscat will have to shoulder the responsibility of having retained Schembri by his side, as the situation becomes untenable for him to stay on as PM in the weeks to come. A further complication concerns Yorgen Fenech's request for a Presi- dential Pardon. Under law, this can only come about on the recommen- dation of the Prime Minister; in this case, it would mean Joseph Muscat deciding whether or not to take a decision that might lead to criminal charges against his own former Chief of Staff. This is not a decision that can be taken by Joseph Muscat. There is no doubt that the PM is mulling a way forward for an interim prime minister who can take the necessary decisions to bring full closure to the murder investigation. The stage is set for Muscat's exit, and the chance for Labour to save the vestiges of its administration and its name as a social-democratic party. But that may require a clear depar- ture from the subservience to the big business interests, which ultimately brought upon Muscat's undoing. Mikiel Galea The Prime Minister's position is untenable