Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1246053
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 MAY 2020 NEWS ANALYSIS Is Abela rehabilitating Joseph JAMES DEBONO AS the Prime Minister who presided over a period of breathtaking economic growth, Joseph Muscat may be seen as the ideal candidate to contrib- ute his ideas for Malta's COV- ID-19 economic recovery strat- egy. He has repeatedly shown an ability to think outside the box, an ability that may prove useful in testing times. And he is now doing so free of charge, at no cost to the taxpayer. So what is the harm in listening to what he has to say? Yet his return to the pub- lic sphere stems from reasons which led to his disgraceful exit, clouded by the close prox- imity of his closest political al- ly (former chief of staff Keith Schembri) to the alleged mas- termind of the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. This chapter still awaits clo- sure and the fact that Schembri has not been arraigned for pos- sible obstruction of justice still boggles the mind. The question remains: is this due to institu- tional paralysis in the face of powerful forces, or is it because the police is still working on a solid case? Muscat himself still refuses to answer questions on how much he knew of Schembri's rela- tionship with Fenech. Now, his return to public service makes it easier for him to evade these very pertinent questions. Any appointment and recog- nition gives the impression that Muscat can be trusted again in some form of quasi-public of- fice, despite the lingering ques- tions on a very serious matter: the involvement of close po- litical allies in public office in what looks like a political as- sassination and in a number of murky business deals. Rehabilitating Muscat Unfortunately, the return of Muscat to the public sphere nurtures suspicions that he is busy working on his own reha- bilitation. For what could be a better PR coup than presenting himself as the saviour of the Maltese economy from a test- ing moment? This may not be Muscat's de- liberate intention. One should never underestimate the temp- tation former leaders have to return to some form of public service which keeps them in the public eye. However, even if this was the case, it was inevitable any reap- pearance of Muscat in public would have been interpreted as an attempt to curry public favour. Sure enough, Muscat himself With former PM Joseph Muscat advising the Abela administration on the post- COVID recovery, is Muscat self lessly putting his expertise at the service of the republic, or using a difficult moment to rehabilitate himself as a savior of the economy? Any appointment and recognition gives the impression that Muscat can be trusted again in some form of quasi-public office