Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1388399
9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 JUNE 2021 NEWS ANALYSIS Charlemagne articulated this sentiment, warning that "the golden era of tiny but mighty states" in the EU "is drawing to a close". Reckoning with Muscat's legacy Sure enough Abela did part- ly address the underlying po- litical malaise by appointing a new police commissioner, un- der whose watch progress has been made both in the Daph- ne assassination and on mon- ey laundering cases involving Keith Schembri, Nexia BT and other key players of Pan- amagate. But he remains politically paralysed when it comes to coming in terms with his pre- decessor's legacy. And while Labour has aligned itself to a sober technocrat- ic response, at least for now, it still ignores the ideological framework which contributed to Malta being placed under the spotlight: the way piracy turned into a vocation under the Muscat administration. Muscat might not have invent- ed the wheel when he inherited the PN's focus on financial ser- vices and tax competitiveness, but he did press on the accel- erator, attracting more even more attention with crude money-raking schemes like the sale of citizenship scheme. In a way it was the Muscat's administration way of squar- ing the circle, behaving like an exemplary German schoolboy when it came to balancing the government budget and even achieving a surplus; while en- thusiastically opening itself to shady dealings and transac- tions across the board. One cannot avoid the deep sense of irony when recalling how back in 2015, former Fi- nance Minister Edward Sciclu- na enthusiastically supported Germany's hawkish stance on punishing Greece despite the massive social pain inflicted on it, while turning a blind eye to the shortcomings which led to Malta now being punished by the same global order of which both Scicluna and Muscat were enthusiastic supporters. Abela still clings to this mod- el of economic growth but may be keener on a driving a slower but more robust engine, which attracts less attention from the exhaust fumes it emits. And while Muscat's devotion to piracy was a dangerous ploy to come to terms with global inequalities that penalise coun- tries whose balance of trade puts them at a disadvantage with powerhouses like Germa- ny, as well as being a short-cut to the living standards of rich- er countries without breaching the EU's rules on spending, it quickly degenerated into a race to the bottom; the Muscat administration attracted the worse aspects of global capital- ism to the point that even hos- pitals were sold to a letterbox company. Abela today is defusing the situation by promising to ad- dress long-standing problems while refraining from any po- litical judgment on his gov- ernment's actions since 2013, while Opposition leader Ber- nard Grech rightly focuses on the trigger. But he too ignores long-standing failures and of- fers very little in terms on ad- dressing problems like massive tax evasion. The attitude of the PN since Panamagate has been one which lamented the spot- light being thrown on Malta's financial sector thanks to Kon- rad Mizzi and Keith Schem- bri's actions, but which ignores any questions on the morality of the system itself. Bernard Grech's own tax irony In his forceful speech in parliament on Monday, Ber- nard Grech was strong on two points: namely his insistence on Abela coming to terms with the Muscat legacy and his call for a bipartisan task force, which includes both the opposition and stakeholders. By ignoring this sensible pro- posal Abela risks undermining his own patriotic rhetoric on 'Team Malta'. Yet the underlying "I told you so" celebratory mode in the Opposition's ranks does raise questions on its good faith. And neither can Grech himself escape the irony from his own tax arrangements which saw him settling pending income tax and VAT dues and irregu- larities spanning a number of years, right before contesting the PN leadership, in what now stands out as another symptom of the 'ejja ha nirranġaw' cul- ture, which also contributed to the greylisting. Crucially, the Opposition will have to prove that it can be trusted with re- forms, which require competence. It could simply press the line that only a change in gov- ernment can se- cure the trust of international in- stitutions because Abela's Cabi- net is itself a hangover of the Muscat era, but Abela's strategy of co-opting new MPs to inject new blood in his Cabi- net may pay off. Even former Muscat aco- lyte Emmanuel Mallia is now next in line to be replaced. Now in the next election Ab- ela will be facing the electorate on the basis of his own actions. In blaming Muscat, the Oppo- sition itself offers Abela a way out of his impasse, giving the PM the opportunity to distance himself further from his predecessor. An election to sort out the mess What remains to be seen is whether Ab- ela will delay election plans to the latest possible date (Sep- tember next year) to first clear Malta's name from the greylist, before going to the polls, and thus be in a position of us- ing this certification of good health as an electoral plank, something which would rob the Opposition of its thunder. It remains doubtful that he would take such the risk of putting his own future in the hands of an assess- ment, which is not within his control. And while in the face of adversity Ab- ela has shown signs of political maturity, it remains doubtful whether this episode will embolden him to cut that umbilical cord which still ties him to his prede- cessor. or Abela's opportunity?