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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JUNE 2022 An indictment of the entire political system Editorial THE latest GRECO compliance report, published on 24 May, goes some distance towards illustrating the time-honoured expression: 'the more things change, the more they remain the same.' It will be remembered that Malta joined the Coun- cil of Europe's Group of States Against Corruption more than 20 years ago, in 2001. Since then, the country has been subject to three rounds of evalua- tion: in December 2002, July 2005, and October 2009 respectively. Collectively, these evaluation reports identified no fewer than 23 key areas, where Malta needed to intro- duce serious reforms to ward against corruption and maladministration. And as this newspaper has vari- ously noted, over the years: some of these recommen- dations focused on the same systemic problems that have meanwhile contributed so much to the blacken- ing of Malta's international reputation. These include issues such as 'impunity'; 'persons of trust'; the lack (or ineffectiveness) of proper anti-cor- ruption structures; insufficient party-financing laws; the need to maintain a proper distance, between the State's legislative and enforcement arms… in a nut- shell, all the major shortcomings that were separately identified by the public inquiry into the 2017 murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Moreover, GRECO's recommendations must also be viewed in light of Malta's recent greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force: for reasons that are entirely analogous with the structural deficiencies – including the lack of proper anti-money laundering infrastructure – identified separately by GRECO. And yet, the latest report reveals that – a full 20 years after the first evaluation – only two of the 23 recommendations (from the last round of investiga- tions) have so far been 'satisfactorily implemented'; and of the rest, twelve have been 'partly implemented'; while nine have not been implemented at all. In fact, the report itself barely conceals the Coun- cil's frustration at the way the current government is so clearly dragging its feet. As recently as 2019, for in- stance, GRECO had warned that: "Malta clearly lacks an overall strategy and coherent risk-based approach when it comes to integrity standards for government officials." Last month's report states that: "As already un- derlined in the evaluation report, Malta needs an over-arching anti-corruption strategy, which would serve as key policy guidance towards improving action against corruption. GRECO urges the authorities to proceed with the development of such [a] strategy based on proper risk assessments without any further delay." On the subject of 'persons of trust', it further notes that: "at this stage, there are no rules or legislation to regulate contacts between the Persons entrusted with Top Executive Functions (PTEFs) and lobbyists/ third parties in place, not even at the drafting level. It follows that GRECO cannot consider this recommen- dation to be implemented, even partly." But perhaps the most disappointing aspect about the GRECO report, is not the conclusions themselves – damning though they were – but rather, the way in which the Maltese government has so far chosen to respond. Incredibly, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard even tried to 'exploit' these findings, to score cheap polit- ical points over his Parliamentary adversaries. "The fact that the report has confirmed government has started to carry out the recommendations, is in itself positive", he told Parliament last week. "The last time a report was received under the PN legislature, the conclusions read that not one of the recommenda- tions was carried out…" Needless to say, this is unacceptable on a wide va- riety of levels. In the first place, the 'last time a report was received under the PN legislature' was actually in 2009 – almost 14 years ago. And while it is true that the Nationalist administration of the time had likewise failed to take the necessary action – and also, that "We would only hear about the GRECO when former MP Franco Debono had criticised his own government on the financing of political parties" – the fact remains that Labour has been in power, uninter- ruptedly, for almost all the intervening years. In fact, former PM Joseph Muscat had inherited those same recommendations from Lawrence Gonzi, all the way back in 2013. So it simply beggars belief, that today's justice minister would still be 'hiding behind the inaction of the PN government', to justify his own government's inaction 10 years later. Moreover, the childish taunt only provoked an entirely legitimate retort from Nationalist MP Mark Anthony Sammut, who aptly noted that: "Under a PN administration, the GRECO had only criticised the government on party financing; while today's report criticises government on rule of law, corruption, low standards and organised crime." Sammut may, admittedly, be exaggerating slightly, there. Certainly, the 2009 GRECO report complained about more than just 'party financing' – there was also the issue of the appointment of judges – but nonethe- less, his overall point clearly remains valid. Times have changed, since 2009. So has the gov- ernment of Malta; and so, too, has the urgency with which these reforms now have to be undertaken. It is, in a nutshell, patently unacceptable for gov- ernment to keep pointing towards the failures of the Nationalist Party – which has now been in opposition for almost a decade – as an excuse to side-step its own, pressing responsibilities today. This has, in truth, gone on long enough. After 20 years, surely the time has come to finally start treating these reforms, with the seriousness they deserve. 27 May 2012 Burning of animal carcasses: inquiry ordered after PL called for it AN inquiry into the burning of animal car- casses, brought to Malta from North Africa, was only ordered after the Labour Party called for it, said its environment spokesman, Leo Brincat, in parliament on Monday. He was referring to the burning of carcass- es at the Marsa incinerator, and said that it took Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino six hours to declare that he had no objection for an inquiry to be held. Mr Brincat said Environment Minister Mario de Marco took days to reply, with him saying that an inquiry should be ordered af- ter the Malta Environment and Planning Au- thority (MEPA) concludes its investigation. He had noted this was nearing conclusion. Brincat said he believed the environment minister should have replied before Pullici- no, because the subject concerned the envi- ronment. He was speaking in Parliament during the debate on crimes against the environment. He expressed his belief that authorities like MEPA should carry out investigations inde- pendently and the government should not have anything to do with them. MEPA had said it was investigating but it did not give details of the reports it received, when they had come in, who was carrying out investigations and what came out of them, among others things, Brinat said. The allegation was that the animals could have had the foot and mouth disease. The inquiry was requested to prevent a cover-up as in the case of the Mercaptan – the chemical burnt illegally in the vicinity of Mġarr and Baħrija and which case has become time-barred, so no criminal action can be taken. The PL wanted to know all the facts so that it would be informed as to when the case started and when government offi- cials were informed about it. Moreover, he requested the inquiry to be held immediately in order to curb specula- tion. Yet much is still unclear. He asked whether it transpired from MEPA's investigation that WasteServ had breached the law in burning such carcasses and whether MEPA considered taking any action. ... Quote of the Week "The problem – allow me to be cynical on this one – is that geopolitics is as moral as a pot of dry earth." Writer Aleks Farrugia argues that Malta's constitution obliges the State to 'actively' seek peace rather than employ empty neutrality MaltaToday 10 years ago