Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1445232
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 JANUARY 2022 OPINION IN the last two years, I have purposely avoided reading an- ything to do with, or watching Joseph Muscat, a man I once had many high hopes for. I have never quite got over the great shock of November 2019, and I have no regrets in having repu- diated him in public. I am too angry to listen to what he has to say now. Though I am conscious of his mindset, believing that he is owed eter- nal loyalty even when he erred, is unacceptable. Like so many others, I be- lieved he would be more than a breath of fresh air to Maltese politics. In 1987 I had snubbed Labour for its violence, and in 2003 for its pig-headedness on Europe. But I always identi- fied myself with social democ- racy and liberal politics. I was a vocal and ardent defender of Muscat's new promise and what he stood for. Often, I was alone among my peers. I was willing to take the brunt of the tsunami of abuse that befell anyone who dared stand up for him. I was ostra- cised and called names. A case in point is the impres- sion that only one journalist in Malta had suffered defamation cases, garnishees or SLAPPs. Our media house would break all record in the history of lit- igation and defamation with over 85 defamation cases, a quarter of a million euros in fines, garnishee orders from the tuna industry and threats of legal action at the Old Bailey and in New York. I belonged to that group of people that had grown to shun the establishment of the Na- tionalist Party and for what it stood for, and for its immense sense of self-entitlement which, in the PN, is still prevalent to this day. I had serious problems in grasping the conservatism and self-conceit of so many Nation- alist diehards. Yet none of all this could ever justify the pre- meditated and structured cor- ruption that happened in the Muscat administration, and the organised murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. These are ac- tions are simply unforgivable. As I have said repeatedly, I was a strong critic of Daphne and I have no regrets in hav- ing stood up to her abrasive style of journalism and anti-La- bour agenda. It was something I could live with and had got used to. Yet all this did not diminish her readiness to stand up to be counted, and her decision to confront her adversaries with damning facts about their ac- tions. The involvement and con- nivance of an organised group, a small political circle inside Castille, in her murder, be- cause she had touched a raw nerve and uncovered corrup- tion at the core of these highest echelons of government, can never be justified. This was a cold-blooded murder in which politics teamed up with organ- ised crime. So when two days ago Mus- cat set up a Facebook stream in home's back yard where he described the police raid at his home, I reluctantly had to watch. He said he would not be in- timidated, and he referred to the fact that he had called on Magistrate Gabriella Vella way back in November 2021 that he was willing to appear in front of her and present the facts of his Accutor AG consultancy pay- ment – €60,000 – and this from a company previously linked to Steward Healthcare. Days later, Repubblika filed a police report, and then this week, the raid on Muscat's house with Maltese and foreign forensic investigators at his house in Bumarrad. Stupidly, Nationalist MP Jason Azzopar- di, derided by both Labourites and Nationalists alike, bragged about the whole incident by way of insinuation a few days earli- er on Facebook. Surely enough, it must have been an unhappy incident that irked Magistrate Vella, who has to worry about her honour and the integrity of her investigation. Then, after Muscat's Face- book video, Matthew Caruana Galizia alleged that the con- tract with the Swiss firm Accu- tor was in fact €540,000 in total for a period of 36 months. Talking to MaltaToday soon after, Muscat argued: "The final agreement was not for a 36-month period and was stopped during the pandemic… there is no link to the hospitals deal. I have provided the au- thorities with details of work I carried out." When pressed to say wheth- er the contract was worth €540,000, Muscat insisted he had "nothing to add" and that his answers were clear enough. Now Muscat, some will argue, has a right to seek out profes- sional work. And I would agree that I am not against such an entrepreneurial spirit. But this is fishy. Why work with a company connected to Steward, whose CEO today Armin Ernst was also involved with predecessor Vitals, the company which robbed this country millions in euros; and enabled a suspect deal orches- trated by three men – Muscat, Schembri and Mizzi without the Cabinet knowing? Revolving doors may not be new in politics; it might be even tolerated. But in this case? Everyone, including top offi- cials at Labour, query how the Great Train Robbery at Vitals took off without anyone bat- ting an eyelid. It was, I guess, because everyone believed in Muscat's good intentions. And then again: how could Joseph Muscat have allowed all this to happen? Everyone out there believes that the Vi- tals deal left many people in- volved in this deal rich – and not deservedly so, of course. And when Steward replaced Vitals, it retained the same CEO, administrative structure, and even managed to obtain a secret €100 million get-out-of- jail clause, thanks to Konrad Mizzi and Muscat. The truth is Malta did not need any Vitals or Steward to run those hospitals; Steward knows this, and Malta is better off without them. And many cannot understand how Muscat would not believe that his decision to accept a consultancy to a company linked to Steward, would not raise eyebrows; especially at a time when Steward remained engulfed in a battle with the Maltese government, to suck more cash from the Maltese taxpayer. The original payment of €60,000 to Muscat in March 2020 was obviously flagged by the Swiss bank which made the transfer; Muscat, being a PEP, raised the administrative due diligence alarm system, and not only did the inevitable hap- pen... but it appears the whole payment programme stopped. Muscat is now at the mercy of Magistrate Vella, who has to do her job. And the conclusions of the Vitals investigation could go anywhere. To be entirely objective about this whole affair, it can get very ugly for Muscat. One thing is for sure: the whole Labour hardcore is on fire and rekindled. And yet, they should not be. Prime Min- ister Robert Abela has the ar- duous task of walking a tight- rope, keeping this Labour core in place and ensure the judicial process takes its course. Many of those who voted for Labour for diverse reasons do not want to punish their party in an election. But neither do they want to look the other way and accept transgressions that can never be justified. Others have disavowed the party, but find the PN simply unappealing. And I have said this before and will say it again: the Prime Minister who still rides high in the polls needs serenity and le- gitimacy, and that can only be achieved by calling an election and asking the people to choose a government with a new man- date and new faces. What the future holds there- after, is a matter for democracy and justice to resolve. Does Muscat expect us to look the other way? Saviour Balzan